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HISTOEY 



O F 




MARYLAND; 

FROM ITS 

SETTLEMENT IN 1634 TO THE YEAR 1848, 

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF ITS FIRST DISCOVERY, AND THE VARIOUS 

EXPLORATIONS OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY, ANTERIOR 

TO ITS SETTLEMENT; TO WHICH IS ADDED, 

A COPIOUS APPENDIX, 

CONTAINING THE NAMES OF THE OFFICERS OF THE OLD MARYLAND LINE: THE 

LORDS PROPRIETARY OF THE PROVINCE, AND THE GOVERNORS OF MARY- 

LAND, FROM ITS SETTLEMENT TO THE PRESENT TIME.yCHRONOLOGI- 

CALLY ARRANGED; THE SENATORS OF THE STATE, IN THE SENATE OF 

THE UNITED STATES; TOGETHER WITH TABLES OF THE POPULA- 

TION OF THE COUNTIES, AT EACH CENSUS, OF THE WHOLE 

STATE, FROM ITS FOUNDATION; AND QUESTIONS ON THE 

PRINCIPAL EVENTS IN THE HISTORY, ARRANGED AC- 

CORDING TO PAGE AND CHAPTER, 

FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS. 

By JAMBS McSHERRY, Esq. 



BALTIMORE: 
JOHN MUHPHY & CO., PRINTERS & PUBLISHERS, 

No. 178 MARKET STREET. 
CUSHINGS & BAILEY, 262 MARKET STREET. 

SOLD BY BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY. 

1850. 






WwT". 



II 



W CTCNAHeE 
FEB 1 5 1^^" 



/ 0/^ 






Entered, according to the act oC Congress, in the year one thousand eight 
hundred and fifty, by John Mcjrpht & Co., in the clerk'a office of the 
District Court of Maryland. 



JOHN MUI?PH.T fr CO., Printeri, Baltimore. 
E. F WltlJlA'MS, Stereotyper. 



TO THE 

YOUTH OF MAHYLANS, 

Z'"^:!^^ T H I S B00K^^^5^ 

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, 

"V_C5;S?=^ IN THE HOPE, ^^;;0^ 

THAT ITS PERUSAL MAY IMPRESS UPON THEIR MINDS 

STRENGTHEN THAT DUTIFUL AND PATRIOTIC LOVE WHICH THEY OWE IT. 
AND INDUCE THEM TO' ADMIRE AND IMITATE 

THE VIRTUE, THE VALOUR, AND THE LIBERALITY, 

THEIR FOREFATHERS. 



PREFACE. 



In presentinor an edition of the History of Maryland, 
revised and adapted to the use of schools, the author can- 
not refrain from expressing his acknowledgments for the 
generous reception which the larger volume met with from 
the public. The desire, so frequently expressed, that a 
cheaper edition should be issued, adapted to the use of 
schools, has led to the publication of the present work. 

Much new matter has been added, and many abbrevi- 
ations made, to render the book more appropriate for 
schools, especially those in operation under the present 
school system of the State. The main object has been, 
throughout, to present a faithful picture of the history of 
Maryland, and, at the same time, as far as possible, to avoid 
exciting the youthful mind of the pupil by the contempla- 
tion of religious or political contentions. 

In this delicate and laborious duty, the author has re- 
ceived great assistance from two gentlemen of experience, 
long connected with the manaofement of the public schools 
of Baltimore, Dr. John F. Monmonier, President of the 
Board of Commissioners, and the Rev. J. N. M'Jilton, 
Treasurer, who, anxious for the introduction of a history 
of Maryland into the public schools of the State, kindly 
undertook the revision of the work, and by whom the 
greater portion of the abbreviations have been either made 
or suof^ested. The author takes this occasion to return 
them his thanks for the interest they have taken in the 
work. 

Frederick, July Ath, 1850. 



^ilf^ 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 

Page. 

Discovery of America 13 

Ditference in Character of the People of English and Spanish 

America 14 

Sebastian Cabot discovers North America 15 

He touches on Maryland 15 

Verazzini passes the mouth of the Chesapeake 16 

The English attempt to colonize North America 16 

London and Plymouth Companies 16 

Virginia Settled 17 

Capt. John Smith Explores the Chesapeake 18 

Second and third Charters of the Virginia Company 20 

Charters forfeited 21 

Sir George Calvert 21 

Prepares to Found Maryland 22 

His Death , 24 

The Charter Issues to his Son Cecilius . 24 

CHAPTER I. 

THE SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. 

The First Colony sails from England 26 

Dangers of the Voyage 27 

Landing at St. Clement's 30 

Exploration of the Potomac 31 

Leonard Calvert's Treaty v^'ith the Indians 33 

The Founding of St. Mary's.. 34 

Colony visited by Governor Harvey of Virginia 34 

The Indians of Saint Mary's 37 

CHAPTER II. 
Claiborne's first rebellion. 

Claiborne's claims to Kent Island, &c 39 

His Rebellion and Defeat on the Pocomoke 40 

His Flight 41 

First General Assembly of Maryland 41 

Conditions of Plantations 41 

The Isle of Kent 42 

The Second General Assembly 43 

Its Constitution , 43 

Dispute with Proprietary concerning the framing of Laws 44 

Trial of one of the Rebels 45 

End of the Rebellion 46 

The Missionaries among the Indians 46 

Baptism of Tayac 49 

Indian Wars 51 

Settlement on the Schuylkill 55 

Third General Assembly 55 

Town House and Water Mill built 56 



fill CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER III. 

Claiborne's and ingle's rebellion. p^^ 

Success of Parliament over the King in England 58 

Its Effects in Maryland 58 

Claiborne's and Ingle's Rebellion 58 

Governor Calvert takes refuge in Virginia 60 

The Rebels subdued and order restored fi 1 

Death of Leonard Calvert, first Governor of Maryland 62 

Thomas Green, Governor 63 

Liberty of Conscience 64 

The Puritans received in the Province 67 

Reduction of Maryland 69 

Troubles with the Indians 71 

Lord Baltimore attempts to recover the Province 72 

Battle at Providence 75 

Execution of the Prisoners by the Puritans 76 

Restoration of the Province.. . .c , 79 

Fendal's Rebellion 80 

CHAPTER IV. 
THE PROTESTANT REVOLUTION. 

Peace and Prosperity 82 

Population — New Counties — Cities 83 

Negro Slaves 85 

Tobacco Trade.. 87 

The Friends 88 

Seneca Indians infest the Frontier 89 

Expedition under Major Trueman 90 

Complaints against the Proprietary Government 91 

Support for Episcopal Clergymen 92 

Edward Husband's case — Fendal and Coode 92 

Hostility of the Crown to the Province 93 

Revolution of 1689 93 

Convention of the Associators in arms 95 

First Royal Governor. . . 95 

Church of England established by law 96 

Contest with the Proprietary 96 

Removal of the Government from St. Mary's to Annapolis 97 

Downfall of St. Mary's 97 

The French Wars — Crown Requisitions 99 

Attempts to Repeal the Charter 102 

Effects of the Royal Administration 1 03 

Condition of the Province . 104 

CHAPTER V. 
RESTORATION OF THE PROVINCE. 

Struggles of Democracy 106 

Relations with the Indians 108 

Internal Improvements 109 

Growth of Annapolis — Baltimore — Frederick 110 

Georgetown Ill 

Military Affairs Ill 

Governors under the Restoration 113 

New Counties 113 

Population— M.inufactures 1 14 



CONTENTS. IX 

Churches 116 

Currency 116 

Boundary Disputes with Virginia 117 

With Delaware and Pennsylvania 119 

With Virginia on the West 123 

CHAPTERVI. 
THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 

The last of the Lords Baltimore 126 

The French and Indian War 126 

Con2:ress at Albany 127 

Capture of Washington at Little Meadows 128 

Maryland takes part in the War 128 

Gov. Sharpe commander-in-chief of forces on the Ohio 129 

Braddock's Defeat 132 

Its Consequences — Inroads of the Savages 133 

Militia and Volunteers assemble on the Frontiers 135 

Panic of the Inhabitants 135 

Fort Cumberland — Disputes as to its Command 136 

Preparations for a Second Expedition 137 

Defence of the Frontiers — Fort Frederick 138 

New Inroads of the Savages 139 

March of General Forbes I44 

Grant's Defeat 145 

Fight at Loyal Hanning 147 

Capture of Fort Duquesne and close of the War 148 

CHAPTER VII. 
THE DAYS BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 

The Rights of the People 149 

The Stamp Act — Resistance to it in Maryland 151 

Zachariah Hood, the Stamp Collector, driven from the Province. . 153 - 

Protest of the Assembly I54 

Daniel Dulany 155 

Congress of Deputies from the Colonies ] 56 

Firmness of the House of Delegates and the people 157 

The Stamp Act declared unconstitutional 160 

Its Repeal 161 

Compliment to Chatham and Camden 162 

Duty on Tea — Opposition of Maryland 163 

Non-importation Societies 165 

The Proclamation and the Vestry Acts 167 

Charles Carroll of Carrollton and Daniel Dulany 169 

Revival of the Tax upon Tea 172 

The Maryland Convention 172 

Tea-burning at Annapolis 173 

Second Maryland Convention — the last Proprietary 175 

Retrospect 176 

CHAPTER VIII. 
THE REVOLUTION. 

Unanimity of the People of Maryland I79 

Preparations for War 180 

Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill , 181 

Association of the Freemen of Maryland 184 

Rifle Companies raised and sent to Boston 185 



X CONTENTS. 

Page 

Regular Troops— Colonel Smallwood 185 

Material of War— Efforts to Supply it 186 

Lord Dunmore— Conolly's scheme 187 

Dunmore's Intrigues on the Eastern Shore > 188 

The British sloop Otter in the Chesapeake 190 

Gov. Eden compelled to leave the Province 191 

The Declaration of Independence 193 

Maryland Troops ordered to join "Washington 196 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE BATTLES OF THE OLD MARYLAND LINE. 

Brooklyn Heights 198 

Retreat from Long Island and New York 202 

The Heights of Harlaem 203 

White Plains 204 

Storming of Fort Washington 207 

Trenton 210 

Princeton 211 

CHAPTER X. 
THE NEW CONSTITUTION AND STATE GOVERNMENT. 

Convention to form the Constitution organizes . . . , 214 

New Counties formed 214 

Reorganization of the Line 215 

Bill of Rights and Constitution adopted 216 

Contest with Virginia 216 

Form of Government, Legislative, Executive, Judiciary 217 

Progress of Maryland 219 

The first State Legislature 221 

The first State Governor 223 

Exertions to Sustain the War 224 

CHAPTER XI. 

CAMPAIGN OF 1777. 

Enemy in the Chesapeake 225 

Attack on Staten Island 226 

Battle of the Brandywine 228 

Defeat of Wayne and Smallwood's Militia 230 

Battle of Germantown 231 

Defence of Fort Mifflin 235 

Gist's Militia Skirmish with the Enemy 236 

Maryland Line winter at Wilmington 237 

Alliance with France 238 

CHAPTER XII. 

'78 AND '79. 

Active measures to fill the State's quota of troops 239 

Tories — measures to repress them 240 

Disputes between the House and Senate 241 

Court of Appeals appointed 242 

Claims to the Western Lands 243 

Campaign of 1778 243 

Battle of Monmouth. 244 

Maryland Line in New Jersey 247 

Campaign of 1779 248 



CONTENTS. Xi 

CHAPTER XIII. 
INTERNAL AFFAIRS. 

Condition of the State 2d0 

State Marine— Reduced 251 

Bills of Credit — their Depreciation 252 

Provision for the Army . . . . ^ 253 

Non-jurors — Mr. Chase charges a Senator with toryism 255 

Naturalization of Foreigners 256 

Second Governor of the State 257 

Paper Money — its Depreciation 258 

Confiscation of the Estates of the Disaffected 258 

The Confederation 261 

Maryland insists on her claims to the Public Lands 262 

Succeeds — Confederation Ratified 263 

The Articles of Confederation 264 

CHAPTER XIV. 
THE SOUTHERN CAMPAIGNS. 

Maryland Line ordered to the South 265 

Battle of Camden 263 

Reduction of the Line 274 

Battle of Cowpens — Howard 277 

Greene's Retreat — Williams 280 

Battle of Guilford Court House 285 

Battle of Hobkirk's Hill 289 

Assault on Ninety-six — Augusta , 292 

Battle of Eutaw 294 

The Maryland Line and "the Buffs" 295 

The Campaign in Virginia 298 

Triumphal Reception of Washington at Annapolis 299 

CHAPTER XV. 
THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION. 

New Issue of Paper Money 301 

Tory Conspiracy in Western Maryland 301 

Leaders tried and executed 302 

Close of the War and Peace with Great Britain 304 

The Maryland Line during the Revolution 305 

The Cincinnati 306 

Maryland Society 307 

Seat of the National Government 308 

Washington resigns his commission at Annapolis 309 

CHAPTER XVI. 
EVENTS FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE WAR OF 1812. 

National Debt— State Debt 311 

State's Bank of Enaland Stock 312 

The Su^^quehanna Canal — the Potomac Company 313 

Convention between Maryland and Virginia 315 

Ecclesiastical Afiairs and Education 315 

Small wood, Governor — Howard 317 

Constitution of the United States adopted 319 

Maryland Convention ratifies and confirms it 321 

Organization of the Federal Government 322 

Public Debt 323 

District of Columbia laid out 324 



Zll CONTENTS. 

The Whiskey Insurrection 326 

The French War — Howard ^ . 327 

The Right of Suffrage Enlarged 328 

New Judicial System 330 

Difficulties with England 33O 

The Embargo 33I 

Maryland Sustains the Administration 332 

Declaration of War 332 

Mob at Baltimore 333 

CHAPTER XVII. 
THE WAR OF 1812. 

The British in the Chesapeake 334 

Battle of Bladensburg 335 

Battle of North Point— the 12th of September 339 

Bombardment of Fort McHenry 342 

" The Star Spangled Banner" 343 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
FROM THE PEACE OF 1815 TO THE YEAR 1S48. 

Peace with Great Britain , 345 

Growth of Baltimore 345 

Reform Agitation— its early rise and jirogress 346 

The Senatorial Electors 348 

Reform of the Constitution » 349 

Slavery and the Blacks 351 

Liberia — Colonization Society 353 

Public Schools 355 

Public Schools in Baltimore 357 

Colleges 359 

Public Improvements— the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal 361 

Baltimore and Ohio Kail Road 363 

Public Debt 365 

Agriculture 366 

Manufactures 368 

The Mexican War 368 

Conclusion 378 

APPENDIX. 

A. Listof the Officers of the Battalion and Independent Companies 381 

B. List of the Officers of the Flying Camp, 1776 382 

C. Arrangement of the Seven Battalions, 1777 385 

D. Arrangement of the Maryland Line, June 1st, 1781 388 

E. Table of Regulars and Militia furnished during the Revolution 393 

P. List of Members of the Cincinnati Society of Maryland 394 

G. Lords Proprietary of Maryland 400 

H. Governors of Maryland 400 

I, Members of the Maryland Convention of 1776, which framed 

the Constitution of the State 401 

J, Ratification of the Constitution of the United States by the 

Maryland Convention, 1788 402 

K. Maryland Senators in the United States' Senate 403 

L. Votes of the Maryland Electors for President and Vice Presi- 
dent of the United States 404 

M. Population of Maryland, from its first settlement 405 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



«■<•» > ■ 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 

A HE discovery of America in 1492, by Christopher 
Columbus, at a time when the chivalry of Spain was in its 
brightest and its latest glory, threw open to the brave 
spirits fresh from the conquest of Granada, and the victo- 
rious battle fields of Italy, a new world, full of wild adven- 
tures, of novel wonders, and teeming, in their fancies, with 
measureless riches. The graceful forms of a strange race, 
whose complexions were tinted with the hues of, the sun, 
the gorgeous specimens of their wealth and their works of 
art, displayed before the admiring court of Ferdinand and 
Isabella, turned all hearts towards this El Dorado of the 
west ; and the discovery of the beautiful isles of the great 
gulf, was followed by the conquest of Mexico, and of 
Peru; by the exploration through the swamps of Florida 
and the plains of Louisiana in quest of the fabled waters of 
perpetual life — expeditions wilder than any ever sketched 
out before in the fancy of the novelist, or the song of the 
minstrel, sometimes crowned with success, sometimes dis- 
astrous in the extreme. 

The rich mines of the south, its fertile soil producing 
alike, spontaneously, the necessaries and luxuries of life ; 
its beautiful sky and its balmy air, similar to, but sur- 
2 



14 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 

passing their own, allured the Spaniard and the Portuguese 
who never once turned their steps to the colder climate 
and the temperate skies of a more northern latitude; and a 
century passed before another race, from a congenial land, 
shaped their course towards that region, which has since 
become the seat of a great and powerful people, excelling 
in wealth, in freedom, in the arts, the dwellers in the ear- 
lier settled, but more enervating countries of the south. 

But the one was fostered and cherished by the blasting 
kindness of a royal hand — the other grew up, untended 
and unheeded, breasting the storms, providing for its own 
safety, protecting itself and gaining from use the strength 
of manhood, even in its early infancy. The Spaniards cast 
their lot amongst a semi-civilized race, whom they subdued, 
and with whom they intermingled their blood ; and were a 
royal government over a conquered people. The English 
came to build up their empire in a wild uncultivated forest, 
with a savage foe around them, whom they exterminated, 
and then found none, within their borders, who were not 
equals and freemen. Thus it was that the mingled race of 
the north, composed, as in time it came to be, of many 
nations and different peoples — the fiery Celt and Frank — 
the phlegmatic German, and the ever-pressing-onward An- 
Sflo-Saxon — aatherincj the best features from each, assimi- 
lated into one mass of marked power and energy ; while 
the colonists of Spain, carefully nursed by the crown, and 
swaddled into weakness and effeminacy, deteriorated by 
commingling with an inferior race, grew up into a sickly 
state, and slowly arrived to that degree of strength which 
enabled them to cast off the political control of the mother 
country, — the effects of their early misgovernment still 
appearing in a want of firmness, unanimity, and ability for 
self-legislation. 

Scarcely had the report of the wonderful discoveries of 
Columbus reached the court of Henry the seventh, of Eng- 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



15 



land, before the spirit of adventure awoke in that kingdom, 
and an expedition was planned by a citizen of Venice, 
Giovanni Gaboto — or John Cabot, as he is usually called — 
for the purpose of exploring a more convenient route to 
the Indies, a portion of which the recent Spanish acquisi- 
tions were supposed to be. Many delays occurred from the 
want of sufficient aid to undertake the voyage, and it was 
not until a short tiKie before the death of John Cabot that 
the king consented to further the enterprise, by issuing his 
license, dated on the 3d of February, 1498, authorizing him 
''tofcseize upon six English ships in any port or ports of the 
realm of England, of 200 tons burthen or under, with their 
requisite apparatus, &c."* Upon the death of the father, 
Sebastian Cabot, the son, applied to the king for assistance 
to carry out the design. He was furnished with one ship 
at the royal expense ; while three or four more were fitted 
out by the merchants of Bristol. In May, 1498, the fleet 
weighed anchor, and after several weeks sailing due west, 
discovered land, which they called Newfoundland. A few 
days after, they made another island, which they named St. 
John. Still pursuing a western course, Cabot soon reached 
the main land, just in season to contest with the Spanish 
navififators the honor of having first touched the Continent 
of America. He coasted along the newly discovered shores 
as far south as the thirty-eighth degree of latitude, when his 
provisions growing short, and a mutiny breaking out among 
the sailors, he was compelled to put about and steer for 
England, where he arrived in safety. It is highly probable 
that Cabot, in this voyage, discovered and touched upon 
the Atlantic shore of Maryland, which lies within the thirty- 
eighth and ninth degrees; and the eastern shore of Worces- 
ter county was, therefore, the last portion of the continent 
which he visited. It seems that several abortive attempts 
were made to follow up the discoveries of Cabot, but, during 
* Bozman's Maryland, vol. 1, p. 12. 



16 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 

the remainder of the reign, the spirit of enterprise appeared 
to have died away, or turned to other objects. In the 
mean while, the French, Spaniards, and Portuguese prose- 
cuted their discoveries with unabated zeal and complete 
success. Giovanni Verazzini, a Florentine, in the service 
of France, made three voyages of discovery along the coast 
of North America, the second of v/hich, in 1524, afterwards 
became famous, as the foundation of much of the French 
claims to their extensive possessions in the New World. 
But the only interest which these explorations have to the 
student of Maryland history, is in the fact, that the Floren- 
tine was the second navigator who passed along the shores 
of the State, and the first to cross before the mouth of the 
Chesapeake Bay, though the Bay itself was not discovered 
until 1585, by Governor Lane, of the first colony of Vir- 
ginia. Yet this vast inlet was not traversed for some 
years ; and it is said that Captain Bartholomew Gilbert, in 
1603, was the first to enter and explore it. 

Somewhat more than a century passed, from the discovery 
of North America by Cabot, before any successful attempt 
was made by the English to colonize it. These enterprises 
are, to a certain extent, connected with the history of Mary- 
land, and therefore necessary to be touched on here. In 
the year 1606 were formed, the London and Plymouth 
Companies, and, by letters patent issued on the tenth day 
of April in that year, the portion of the Continent lying 
between the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth degrees of north 
latitude, was granted to them in nearly equal shares, — the 
territory from the first mentioned degree to the forty-first 
being assigned to the London, and from the thirty-eighth 
to the forty-fifth to the Plymouth Company; and, as by this 
provision there was a territory of three degrees in extent 
which was common to both, it was further specified, that 
the party who first settled within this region, thus overlap- 
ped by the two grants, should possess the coast fifty miles 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 17 

rach way from the point of settlement, and one hundred 
miles to the interior, whilst no settlement was to be made 
by the other company within one hundred miles of the first. 

The London Company immediately began their prepara- 
tions, which, although they were completed somewhat later 
than those of the Plymouth Company, were productive of 
greater results. The fleet consisting of a vessel of one 
hundred tons, one of forty and one of twenty, with one 
hundred and five colonists on board, set sail from Black- 
wall, on the Thames, on the 19th of December, 1606, 
under the command of Capt. Christopher Newport.* They 
carried with them sealed instructions, to be opened only 
upon their arrival in Virginia. After many difficulties and 
delays, they had nearly reached their destination at Roan- 
oke, when they were driven by a violent storm into the 
Chesapeake, which they entered on the 26th of April. 
Here they opened their instructions, which appointed a 
council of seven with certain powers for the government 
of the colony. In the early part of May they began to 
explore James river, and having selected a beautiful penin- 
sula, given them by an Indian chief, they laid the founda- 
tion of Jamestown on the 13th of May, 1607. 

The new colonists suffered much from scarcity of provi- 
sions, from frequent attacks of the savages, and not less 
from internal dissensions ; and, but for the prudence and 
energy of Capt. John Smith, would very probably have met 
with the same evil fate which befell former settlements. 
At length, however, the arrival of two ships from England 
laden with supplies, relieved their present necessities and 
increased their strength and numbers by seasonable rein- 
forcements. Instead of seeking in the cultivation of the 
soil the true wealth of the earth, the Virginians turned 
their whole attention to gathering cargoes of glittering 
sands for the returning ships. In vain Smith remonstrated: 
* Boztnan, vol. 1, p. 99. 

2* C 



18 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



the discovery of this imaginary gold had intoxicated them, 
and they scorned the humbler but surer resources of agri- 
culture. The consequences were soon felt in a growing 
scarcity of food. 

But Smith was not idle. Turning his eyes towards that 
vast inland sea near whose mouth they were situated, he 
judged rightly that an exploration of its shores would open 
extensive resources to the colonists, by means of trade, 
with the Indians. On the 2d of June, in the year 1608, 
in an open boat of about three tons burden, accompanied 
by a physician. Dr. Russel, six gentlemen and seven sol- 
diers, he departed from the fort at Jamestown on his dar- 
ing expedition. They boldly struck across the Bay, and 
having discovered Smith's isles, made the eastern shore, 
and were directed by two Indians whom they found there, 
to the habitation of the Werowance or chief of their tribe, 
at Accomack. Departing thence, they examined many 
creeks and harbors, discovered some islands, which they 
called Russel's islands — now Watts' — named several points, 
and at length reached the river Wighcocomo or Wighco, 
supposed to be the Pocomoke, whose mouth afterwards be- 
came the southern point of boundary in the charter of the 
province of Maryland. After suffering from want of water, 
and being driven about by storms, they entered the Nanti- 
coke river, which was called by the Indians Cuskara- 
waock, where the natives assembled in large numbers to 
oppose their landing. A few shots were sufficient to dis- 
perse them. In the course of several days, however, a 
fifood understandino^ was established with them, and the 
Indians vied with each other in supplying the wants of the 
strangers, considering a little bead an ample remuneration 
for all they could bestow. Not satisfied with the appear- 
ance of the Eastern shore, they passed out through Hoop- 
er's straits, or the Straits of Limbo, as they named them, 
and stood directly for tlie cliffs on the western coast, along 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 19 

which they sailed thirty leagues northward, finding no 
inhabitants in all that space. They were now some dis- 
tance above the Patapsco, which river they described as 
one navigable for ships, and called Bolus, supposing the 
red and white earth upon the banks to be bole armoniack. 
They had already been in their open boat fourteen days, 
and their provisions were much damaged by the wet ; and 
the men, worn down with laboring at the oars, besought 
their indefatigable captain to return. He succeeded in 
persuading them to continue three or four days ; when 
several of the men falling sick, and the complaints of the 
remainder becoming louder, Smith put about, after having 
reached as far north as Poole's Island, and steered towards 
the south. On the 16th of June they discovered the Po- 
towmac, or Patawomek, up which they sailed about thirty 
miles, where after having met with a hostile reception, they 
landed on the Virginia shore. From this place, about No- 
miny Bay, they continued up the river, touching at various 
points, until they had passed the present site of Wash- 
ington city, " having' gone as high as they could in their 
boat." Here they were met by savages in canoes, loaded 
with the flesh of deer, bears and other animals, of which 
they obtained a portion. Upon their return they met with 
many adventures, but reached Jamestown in safety, on the 
21st of July, one month and nineteen days from the date 
of their departure. 

Not satisfied with the result of his expedition, the inde- 
fatigable Smith fitted out another, accompanied by most 
of those who had followed him in the first. They set out 
on the 24th of July, 160S, and made directly towards the 
mouth of the "Bolus," or Patapsco. Thence they pro- 
ceeded to the head of the bay and explored the entrances 
of the Susquehannah, the North-east, the Elk, and Sassafras 
rivers. The banks of the Susquehannah and the Sassafras, 
or, as Smith calls it, the Toghwogh, they found inhabited. 



20 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 

On the bay they met seven or eight canoes of Massawo- 
meck Indians who prepared to assault them : they, how- 
ever, by signs, obtained an amicable conference. They 
sailed up the Sassafras, where the natives received them 
with the greatest kindness, danced before them, and offered 
them fruits and furs and all their simple hospitality. There 
they learned that the Susquehannahs, residing on the river 
of the same name, were the most warlike and powerful 
tribe of that region. Having fully explored the head of 
the bay, and entered the Susquehannah as far as tliey could 
penetrate — to the point called Smith's Falls — they returned 
to Virofinia after an absence of three months in an open 
boat.* 

In 1820, the bay was again entered and further explored 
by Mr. John Pory, who visited several towns belonging to 
the savages inhabiting its shores.! 

The Virginia Company, having become dissatisfied with 
their charter, petitioned the king for a new one, which was 
accordingly issued on the 23d of May, A. D., 1609. By it 
the king granted and confirmed to them " all those lands, 
countries and territories, situate, lying and being in that 
part of America, from Point Comfort all along the sea coast 
northward two hundred miles," and to the same extent 
southward, " and all that space and circuit of land lying 
from the sea coast of the precinct aforesaid, up into the 
land throughout, from sea to sea, west and north-west, and 
all the islands lying within one hundred miles along the 
coast of both seas of the precinct aforesaid." 

Three years after, in 161 2, finding new powers neces- 
sary, the Company applied for a third charter : which was 
issued to them on the 12th of March, 1611-12, confirma- 
tory of the second charter. Various disputes having arisen 
in the Company, the crown became hostile to its continu- 

* Smith in Bozman — the notes of Bozman upon hira, vol. 1, p. 105 
to 133. t Ibid p. 148. 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 21 

ance, and a writ of quo warranto was issued against it 
in November, 1623. In May, 1624, judgment was given 
against the Company in King's Bench, and the charters 
declared to be forfeited. The corporate existence of the 
colony therefore ceased. The administration of its affairs 
was taken under the immediate control of the crown, the 
settlement reduced to a royal government, and a commis- 
sion issued by the king to a provisional council for the 
direction of its affairs. By this act the extensive territory, 
heretofore granted to the late London Company, reverted 
to the crown and became the fit subject for new grants 
and the erection of other provinces.* 

Amonof those who had become interested in the London 
or Virginia Company, under its second charter, in 1609, 
was Sir George Calvert, afterwards the founder of Mary- 
land. He was educated at Trinity College, Oxford, where 
he took his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1597, with some 
distinction. He finished his education by a tour on the 
Continent. On his return he obtained an office at the 
court, under Sir Robert Cecil, one of the principal Secreta- 
ries of State. In 1617 he was knighted by the king, hav- 
ing been appointed one of the clerks of the privy council. 
In 1619 he became one of the Secretaries of State, an office 
which he filled with honor to himself and great profit to 
his sovereiofn, whose hiorh estimate of his services was 
proved by the grant of a pension of one thousand pounds 
a year, which he bestowed upon him in 1620. In the 
warm debates in the House of Commons, where he repre- 
sented, first Yorkshire, in 1620 and, subsequently, the 
University of Oxford, he always maintained the rights 
and protected the interests of the king, and that monarch, 
afterwards, did not fail to prove his grateful recollection 
of his loyalty. Sir George Calvert had early engaged in 
the schemes of colonization of that period, and upon the 

* Bancroft. 



22 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 

dissolution of the Virginia Company, of which he had 
been a member, he was named by the king one of the 
royal commissioners to whom the government of that 
colony was confided * 

Sir George Calvert's capacity for public business, and his 
devotion to the duties of his office, had earned for him the 
esteem and confidence of the king, who employed him 
more frequently in affairs of moment than his colleague, 
Sir Robert Naunton ; and to mark his high estimate of his 
services, granted him a pension of one thousand pounds a 
year, in addition to his salary, to be paid out of the customs 
He continued to hold the office of secretary of state, with 
honor to himself and profit to the king until the year 1624, 
when he resigned it either because his oath of office was 
incompatible with his belief as a Catholic, or lest it might 
become his duty, as secretary, to carry into eflfect the peiial 
laws then in existence aofainst the members of that church. 
The king accepted his resignation ; but, at the same time, 
to mark his undiminished confidence in him, made him a 
member of his privy council for life, and soon after created 
him Lord Baltimore, of Baltimore, an estate in Ireland 
which he had granted him in 1621. 

The spirit of intolerance at that time pervaded England. 
It was indeed too prevalent throughout the world — for 
men had yet to learn that conscience cannot be bound by 
chains nor enforced by scourges, and that religious liberty 
is the inalienable riorht of all. Sir Geornfe Calvert felt this: 
and although he was assured of protection from the grati-" 
tude and afljection of the king, he determined to seek 
another land and to found a new state, where conscience 
should be free and every man might worship God accord- 
ing to his own heart, in peace and perfect security, t It 

* Bozman. f McMahon, 193. 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 23 

was a grand and noble design : and he set about perfecting 
it. At first he fixed his eyes on New-found-land, in the set- 
tlement of which he had before been interested ; and it was 
perhaps the knowledge he acquired, in that scheme, of the 
resources of the new world and its independence and securi- 
ty, that led him to entertain his great project of colonization. 
Having purchased a ship, he sailed with his family to that 
island in which, a few years before, he had obtained a grant 
of a province under the name of Avalon.* Here he only 
resided two years, when he found the climate and soil un- 
suited for the establishment of a flourishing community, 
and determined to seek a more genial country in the south. 
Accordingly in 1628, he sailed to Virginia,! with the inten- 
tion of settling in the limits of that colony, or more probably 
to explore the uninhabited country on its borders, in order 
to secure a grant of it from the king. Upon his arrival 
within the jurisdiction of the colony, the authorities ten- 
dered him the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, to which, 
as at that time framed, he could not subscribe. Lord Balti- 
more refused to take them, but prepared a form of an oath 
of alle(Tiance which he and all his followers were willinor to 
accept. His proposal was rejected, and being compelled 
to leave their waters, he explored the Chesapeake above 
the settlements. t He was pleased with the beautiful and 
well wooded country, which surrounded the noble inlets 
and indentations of the great bay; and determined there to 
found his principality, assured that he had selected a terri- 
tory possessing all the elements of future prosperity, fertile 
in soil, traversed by majestic rivers, and enjoying a climate 
unsurpassed elsewhere upon the continent. He returned 
to England to obtain a grant from Charles I, who had suc- 

* A. D. 1623, Bozman, vol. 1, p. 240. f McMahon, 193. 

X Bozman, vol. 1, pp. 255-258 ; McMahon, 9. 



24 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 



ceeded his father, James I, upon the throne. Hemember- 
ing his services to his father, and perhaps moved by the 
intercessions of his queen, Henrietta Maria, Charles directed 
the patent to be issued. It was prepared by Lord Baltimore 
himself; but before it was finally executed, that truly great 
and good man died, and the patent was delivered to his 
son Cecilius, who succeeded as well to his noble designs, 
as to his titles and estates. 

The charter was issued on the 20th of June, 1632, and 
the new province, in honor of Queen Henrietta Maria, was 
named Terra MaricB — Maryland. 

The charter was a solemn grant from the king to Lord 
Baltimore, and his heirs and assigns, of all the territory 
lying within the limits set forth, with extensive jurisdiction 
and powers of government over it. The rights of the set- 
tlers were fully provided for in this instrument, which was 
one of the most liberal and democratic granted in that acre. 
The power of making laws was jointly vested in the people 
or their representatives, and the lord Proprietary, (the title 
conferred upon Lord Baltimore,) although an extraordinary 
power was vested in the latter, or his governor, in cases 
of sudden emergency, when the people or their delegates 
could not well be assembled. The people of the colony 
were for ever exempted from taxation by the crown, except 
by their own consent, and many other important privileges 
were secured to them. The ecclesiastical laws of England, 
so far as related to the consecration and presentation of 
churches and chapels, were extended to the colony, but 
the question of state religion was left untouched, and there- 
fore, within the legislative power of the colonists them- 
selves. The king only reserved to himself one-fifth of the 
gold and silver which might be found in the province, 
and the yearly tribute of two Indian arrows. Having thus 
a noble territory, his rights and the prosperity of his 
future state secured by a liberal charter, Lord Baltimore 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 25 

prepared to establish his first settlement in Maryland. 
He fitted out two vessels, which he named ^^ the Jlrk^^ and 
"Me Dove," and collected a body of two hundred emi- 
grants, nearly all of whom were Catholics and gentlemen 
of fortune and respectability, who desired, like himself, 
as had his father, to fly from the spirit of intolerance 
which pervaded England, and to rear up their altars in 
freedom in the wilderness.* The colonists were accom- 
panied by two Jesuit priests, Fathers Andrew White and 
John Altham, and were placed under the command of 
Leonard Calvert, whom his brother, the lord Proprietary, 
had appointed governor of Maryland, intending to remain 
in England for the present to superintend in person the 
interests of the settlement in its infancy, and to send out 
additional emigrants.! 

* Burnap; Bozman; McMahon. 

t Relatio Itineris in Marylandiam. — Bozman, vol. 2, p. 26. 




D 



CHAPTER I. 



THE FIRST SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. 

On the 22d day of November 1633, being St. Cecilia's 
day, the 'Ark' and the 'Dove' weighed anchor from Cowes, 
in the Isle of Wight."* The pious pilgrims placed their 
ships under the protection of God, and raised their hearts 
in prayer, for the success of the great enterprize vt'hich 
they had undertaken. They left behind them the homes, 
in which they had been born, their friends and relatives, 
to face the dangers of the sea, and the perils and hardships 
of a wilderness, in order to plant the seed of freedom and 
religious liberty — to secure to themselves and their chil- 
dren the inestimable privilege of worshipping God accord- 
ing to the dictates of their consciences. It was a mighty 
undertaking ; standing out, in history, as an era in the 
progress of mankind. 

The pilgrims narrowly escaped the Needles, which are a 
series of breakers at the extremity of the Isle of Wight, 
but, relying on the protection of God, they drove boldly 
out to sea under a strong and steady breeze. No sooner 
had they escaped this peril, than the fear of capture by the 
Turks, whose cruizers were then a terror to all Christian 
nations, kept them in constant alarm for the safety of the 
"Dove," which was neither so good a sailer, nor so well 
manned and armed as the "Ark." After a time they were 
♦ Relatio Itin., &c. ^^ 



1633.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 27 

joined by a London merchantman, ^^ the Br agon, ^^ well 
armed, and bound for Angola, and, thus being relieved by 
the strength of their fleet from all fear of danger, they con- 
tinued their voyage in high spirits, "making the air and 
sky resound with the clangor of trumpets." 

On the evening of the 25th of November, the wind 
veered round to the north, and a violent storm arose. The 
crew of the Dragon, fearing to encounter all its fury, 
changed their course and steered for England, while the 
company on board the Dove, dreading the effect of the 
furious tempest upon their little bark, yet unwilling to 
abandon the enterprize, notified the officers of the larger 
vessel that if they were in danger of shipwreck, they would 
hang out a light from the mast head. The captain of the 
Ark, knowing the strength of his vessel, bore steadily on 
his course. In the middle of the night, the storm increased 
in violence, and the crew of the larger vessel beheld with 
dismay two lights suspended from the mast head of the 
pinnace. But they were unable to afford their comrades 
any assistance ; and, in a ^qw moments, these lights disap- 
peared, and with sorrowful hearts they gave up the little 
Dove, and her gallant crew, as lost. When morning, at 
length, broke over that long and dreary night, there was no 
sign or vestige of the Dove upon the waters. The storm 
still raged on with somewhat diminished fury, and during 
the three succeeding days, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thurs- 
day, the Ark was tossed about by contrary winds, making 
little headway. At length, on the night of the third day, 
the rain began to descend in torrents, and a sudden blast 
of the tempest split the mainsail from top to bottom. The 
vessel, having unshipped her rudder, was driven about at 
the mercy of the waves. The minds of the bravest were 
filled with fear, for the Ark seemed about to be engulfed 
in the raging billows. The pilgrims betook themselves 
to prayer ; and, with Christian resignation, prepared them- 



28 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1633-4. 

selves to meet the fate which now seemed inevitable. 
Before their prayers had ended, the violence of the storm 
began to abate. At length the sea became calm, and the 
remainder of the voyage, which extended through a period 
of three months, was pleasant and prosperous.* 

After passing the Madeira islands, the pilgrims were 
alarmed by the appearance of three suspicious looking ves- 
sels, bearing down towards them. The captain immediately 
cleared his ship for action, but the supposed pirates soon 
changed their course and disappeared. They continued 
on their voyage, and touched at the Fortunate, or as they 
are now called, the Canary islands; and, here, the governor 
consulted with the principal officers and gentlemen, upon 
the best mode of loading the ship with a return cargo, so 
as to repay part of the expenses of the expedition which 
had been borne entirely by Lord Baltimore. At first, they 
determined to steer for St. Christopher's, then changed 
their destination towards Bonavista, one of the Cape de 
Verd islands, and a great mart for salt ; but after sailing 
two hundred miles, fearing their provisions would fall short, 
they altered their course for Barbadoes, where they arrived 
on the 5th of January, 1634, 0. S. Their reception was 
cold and inhospitable, and the people demanded extrava- 
gant prices for the provisions which they desired to pur- 
chase. They now learned that a Spanish fleet was lying 
at Bonavista, and that, had they persisted in their original 
intention, their capture would have been certain. At Bar- 
badoes, too, a conspiracy had just been discovered amongst 
the slaves, to massacre their masters, and to seize the first 
ship which should touch at the island. Theirs being the 
first, would have fallen a sacrifice but for the timely disco- 
very of this iniquitous plot. Thus twice did heaven protect 
the little colony and preserve the destinies of Maryland. 

There was yet one dark cloud hanging over their pros- 
* Narratio Itineris, &c. 



1634.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 29 

perity — the disappearance of the pinnace and her crew. 
Tmagine, then, their joy, as she bore in sight and joined 
company again, after a separation of six weeks. On the 
night of the terrific storm which parted them, the Dove, 
after havinof shown her siornal, no lonfjer able to breast the 
storm, had changed her course and taken refuge in the 
Scilly islands, whence, the ship Dragon bearing her com- 
pany as far as the Bay of Biscay, she sailed in pursuit of 
the Ark, and at length overtook her at the Antilles. 

On the night of the 24th. of January they weighed anchor 
and departed from Barbadoes. The next day they passed 
St. Lucia, and in the evening arrived at Matalina, where 
they saw several canoes of cannibals, who had lately eaten 
some English interpreters. The day after, they reached 
Montserrat, an island settled and inhabited by the Irish 
settlers who had been driven from Virginia. They were 
kindly entertained at St. Christopher's by the governor 
and two friendly captains, and were also treated with great 
hospitality by the governor of the French colony in the 
same island. At length, on the 24th of February, they 
came in sight of Point Comfort in Virginia. They were 
now approaching the termination of their wanderings. 
Yet this joyful prospect was somewhat clouded by the fear 
of hostility, on the part of the Virginians, who were 
resolutely opposed to Lord Baltimore's design; but the 
royal letters, which they bore with them, secured them a 
favorable reception from the governor, and, after spending 
eight or nine days in that colony, they again set sail on the 
3d of March, steering for the mouth of the Potomac, to 
which they gave the name of St. Gregory. They had 
now arrived in the land of their adoption, and they were 
delicrhted with the wide expanse of the noble bay, and the 
majestic river, upon whose shores they were about to rear 
up an empire. On the banks of the Potomac, they found 
mighty forests, stretching as far as the eye could reach ; a 



30 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1634. 

soil, rich and fertile — the air, sweet and balmy, although it 
was now in the month of March; and they returned thanks 
to God for the beautiful land which he. had given them — 
for this was Maryland ! 

On the beach, they beheld groups of armed natives, pre- 
pared to resist their landing, during the day ; and at night 
they saw innumerable alarm fires kindled throughout the 
country to assemble the savage tribes, while messengers 
passed from one to the other far into the interior, carrying 
the" strano-e tidino-s ** that canoes, as bif^ as an island, had 
brought as many men as there were trees in the forest." 
In spite of all these demonstrations of hostility, they 
succeeded in establishing confidence in the breasts of the 
natives ; and having satisfied them that iheir intentions 
were peaceful, at length, purchased from them the territory 
which they required. Maryland was almost the only state 
whose early settlement was not stained with the blood of 
the unfortunate natives. 

The ships now approached the Heron islands, 

The Landins. n ^ ■ ^ r^ /-^a ) j*. i i • 

on one of which, St. Clement s,* the colonists 
determined to land, and, although the island was too small 
for a settlement, to build a strong fort for their protection 
in case of any outbreak. On the feast of "the Annuncia- 
tion," being the 25th of March, in the year 1634, they 
took solemn possession of Maryland ; and their priests 
performed divine service for the first time within its 
borders. After mass was ended, the pilgrims formed in 
procession, led on by the governor, Leonard Calvert — the 
secretary, and the other officers — carrying on their shoul- 
ders a huge cross, hewn from a tree, and erected it upon 
the island, as the emblem of Christianity and civilization, 
which they were about to plant upon those shores. Under 
these auspices was begun the founding of Maryland. 
The chief of Piscataway v/as the most powerful in that 
* Now Blackstone's Island— according to B. U. Campbell, Esq. 



1634. J HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 31 

region, and had many sachems and tribes subject to him. 
The governor, Leonard Calvert, therefore determined to 
visit him and secure his friendship. Taking with him the 
Dove and another small pinnace, which he had purchased 
in Virginia, he set out with a portion of his men, accom- 
panied by Father Altham, leaving the ship at anchor at St. 
Clement's. As they advanced up the river, the Indians 
fled towards the interior. At length they reached a village, 
on the Virginia side, named Potomac, after the river, and 
governed by Archihu, uncle of the king who was yet a 
youth. Father Altham preached to the people and their 
chiefs. They listened with attention, and replied to him 
through his interpreter. The good Father told them, that 
the pale faces had come neither to make war upon them 
nor to do them any wrong, but to instruct them in Chris- 
tianity, to make them acquainted with the arts of civilized 
life, and to live with them like brothers. "You are wel- 
come," replied the chief. Then Father Altham informed 
him, that, as he had not the time to enter upon further dis- 
course, he would return to visit him again. " It is good," 
said Archihu, " we will use one table — my people shall 
hunt for my brother, and all things shall be in common 
between us." 

Having parted with this hospitable chief, Leonard Calvert 
ascended to Piscataway, where he found the natives armed, 
and assembled upon the shore, to the number of five 
hundred, ready to dispute his landing. By means of signs, 
he contrived to make them understand that he came for 
peace and not for war, and at length, the chief or emperor 
ventured on board the pinaace. Satisfied of the peaceful 
intentions of the pilgrims, and pleased to have such skilful 
and powerful people for his allies, the chief granted them 
permission to settle within his territories. 

In the mean while, the savages about St. Clement's soon 
became more familiar with the colonists, who were now 



32 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1634.. 

busily engaged in putting together a brigantine, the planks 
and timbers of which they had brought out from England. 
"It was amusing," says Father White, "to hear them 
examining every thing. In the first place, * where in the 
world did so large a tree grow, from which so huge a ship 
could be hewn ?' for they conceived it was cut from the 
single trunk of a tree, after the manner of a canoe. Our 
larger cannon struck them with amazement ; as they were 
louder tlian the twanging of their bows, and equal to 
thunder." 

FoundiiT^of Having explored the country above the island 
St. Mary's. ^^ gj.^ Clement's, and being satisfied that as yet 
it would be imprudent to settle so high up the river. Go- 
vernor Calvert determined to make a more careful exami- 
nation of the region lying nearer the mouth of the Poto- 
mac. Leaving the ship and pinnaces at anchor at St. 
Clement's, he set out in his barge, with which, as it drew 
but little water, he could penetrate higher up the creeks 
and small rivers ; and was conducted by Captain Henry 
Fleet, a Virginian interpreter, whom he had found at 
Piscataway, to St. George's river, about twelve or fifteen 
miles from the mouth of the Potomac. He explored the 
St. George about twelve miles upwards, nnd anchored at 
the village of the Yaocomico Indians. Here the governor 
landed in order to treat on friendly terms with the native 
chief or Werowance, and explained to him his object in 
coming to his country. The Werowance, after the custom 
of the Indians, made but little answer to the proposition 
of Governor Calvert, which was so new and unexpected ; 
but hospitably entertained him and his companions, giving 
up his own rude bed, a mat laid on boards, for the accom- 
modation of the governor. The ensuing day was devoted 
to an examination of the surrounding country ; and Leo- 
nard Calvert, finding that it possessed many advantages 
which rendered it an eligible site, determined there to 



1634.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 33 

commence liis first settlement. The ship and pinnaces 
were, accordingly, ordered to join him at Yaocomico with- 
out delay. 

Under the grant of the crown to his brother, caivert's Treaty 
he was entitled to the possession of the soil, ^viih the Indians, 
according to the laws of nations ; but he deemed it just 
and prudent to purchase the rights of the Indians to their 
country, and gave them some English cloth, axes, hoes and 
knives, in return for which they granted him about thirty 
miles of territory, which he called " Augusta Carolina," 
afterwards the county of St. Mary's. The Indians further 
agreed to give up to the settlers, for their immediate accom- 
modation, one-half of their village, and corn grounds which 
they had already commenced to plant, reserving the other 
part for their own use until the harvest should be gathered, 
when the whole of the purchased territory was to be sur- 
rendered to the whites. In fulfilment of this provision, the 
natives who dwelt in that part of the village allotted to the 
colonists, at once freely removed from their dwellings and 
took up their residence for the present in the huts of their 
brethren. In conclusion, the pilgrims and the Indians 
mutually promised each other to live together in peace and 
friendship, and that if an injury should happen to be done 
on either part, full satisfaction should be made for the 
wrong. Such were the principal features of this honorable 
treaty; and " thas," says one of the colonists, writing in 
the ensuing year an account of the settlement, "upon the 
27th day of March, Anno Domini 1634, the governor took 
possession of the place and named the {own St. Marie's." 

This important event may be considered as the date of 
the actual settlement of the colony ; although it would 
seem from the solemnities on the island of St. Clement, 
that the pilgrims intended on that occasion, being the Feast 
of the Annunciation, to take formal possession of the pro- 
vince of Maryland. Fair and beautiful was the origin of 

E 



34 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1634. 

the State. No wrong or injustice towards the native, 
stained the hands of its founders ; no persecuting domina- 
tion or exclusive franchise was reared upon its shores ; 
but around the rough hewn cross on the island of St. Cle- 
ment, gathered the Catholic and the Protestant, hand in 
hand, friends and brothers, equal in civil rights and secure 
alike in the free and full enjoyment of either creed. It 
was a day, whose memory should make the Maryland heart 
bound with pride and pleasure. 

On the next day, the Ark and the two pinnaces arrived 
at St. Mary's with the colonists. The simple natives were 
filled with wonder at the size of the vessels and at the 
thunder of the cannon which they fired to commemorate 
their happy arrival at the end of their wanderings. 

Although the colonists had used every means to conciliate 
the Indians, they were aware of the danger of relying too 
implicitly on their variable disposition, and their first work 
was to erect a guard house and store house. In the mean 
while, for further security, they slept aboard their ships. 
While these important works were progressing, and the 
men of the colony were preparing, for the reception of 
their families, houses more durable than the rude huts of 
the Indians which they now occupied during the day, the 
new settlement was visited by Governor Harvey of Virginia. 
Governor Calvert received him with great ceremony, and 
for the purpose of conciliating the neighboring chiefs, gave 
him a banquet on board his ship, to which he also invited 
them. The king of Patuxent was particularly friendly to 
the whites, and to do him honor, he was seated between 
the two governors at table. An Indian, one of his sub- 
jects, coming into the cabin of the ship, and perceiving 
his prince thus seated, immediately suspected that some 
evil design was meditated against him ; nothing but the 
repeated assurances of the chief himself could prevent him 
from leaping overboard to carry the alarm to shore, which 



1634.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 35 

might have been productive of the most fatal consequences. 
However, when the feast was over and the king about to 
depart, he addressed the surrounding Indians and said : 
"I love the English so well, that if they should go about 
to kill me, and I had so much breath as to speak, I would 
command the people not to avenge my death; for I know 
they would do no such thing, except it were through my 
own fault." Nothing could prove more plainly than this 
little incident, how firmly knit was the friendship between 
the two races, and how different was the conduct of the 
settlers of Maryland, towards the natives, from that which 
characterized the people of many other colonies. These 
kindly feelings were much strengthened by the labors of 
the missionaries, who immediately began to teach and in- 
struct the Indians. 

Meanwhile the settlement continued to prosper; the 
work of building was laid aside for a time for the purpose 
of planting corn. As soon, however, as the store house 
was finished, the stores were unloaded from the vessels, 
and the governor determined, without further delay, to dis- 
embark the whole colony with all the display of his mili- 
tary force. The gentlemen and their followers under arms 
were drawn up in array upon the shore ; and, as the colony 
reached the land, they fired a salute, which was returned 
by the ordnance of the ship. They then proceeded with 
great ceremony to take take possession of their new home 
in the presence of the chiefs of Patuxent and Yaocomico, 
and a crowd of admiring natives. 

The guard house and dwellings were as yet uncompleted, 
and for the present, the settlers found refuge in the rude 
huts of the Indians, who the more readily received them and 
sold them their village and corn grounds, and their other 
territory, because, in order to escape the incursion of the 
Susquehannahs, they had determined to remove their habi- 
tations to another region secure from their terrible enemy. 



36 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1634. 

Providence had prepared the way for the pilgrims, as 
Father White piously says, and the Indians began already 
to depart, giving up to them, as they went, their huts and 
cultivated fields. The colonists had brought a large sup- 
ply of provisions with them from England; at Barbadoes 
they had increased their stores, and they were now put 
in possession of arable land just in season to plant their 
corn for the coming crop. They immediately set about 
this necessary work, and in the fall ensuing, gathered so 
plentiful a crop that they were enabled, after providing for 
their own subsistence, to send ten thousand bushels to New 
England in exchange for salt fish and other provisions.* 
The pilgrims had brought out from England seeds of every 
kind, and, although the works of pressing necessity had 
occupied much time and it was already late in the season, 
they laid out and planted gardens which succeeded well ; 
and to complete their arrangements, they purchased from 
Virginia a supply of hogs, poultry, and cattle. The hogs 
and poultry rapidly increased to such an extent, that in the 
ensuing year the colony possessed a sufficient stock for its 
own use. Providence seemed to smile upon the pilgrims. 
Their supply of provisions was abundant: their crops, their 
gardens and their stock were prospering; and they had 
every reason to hope for an exemption from the terrors of 
famine, under which other colonies had suffered so much. 
Besides, the woods abounded with game which the Indians 
taught them how to hunt, and the rivers and bay were full 
of fish and oysters. God had indeed bestowed upon the 
pilgrim fathers of Maryland a beautiful land, flowing with 

* Bozman, vol. 2, p. 32. The author of " A Relation of Maryland," says, they 
bought so much corn from the Indians, that they sent 1,000 bushels of it to New 
England. VVinthrop says, that the " Dove," a pinnace of fifty tons from Maryland, 
brought corn to trade with the people of Plymouth colony, with letters from the go- 
vernor and the conimissionera of Maryland, proposing to open, trade between the 
colonies. It seems that quarrels broke out, between the crew of the Dove and the 
Puritans, and " the merchant " of the Dove (who afterwards died before the pinnace 
left Plymouth; was taken into custody to secure the appearance of the sailors, who 
were charged with profanity, &.C., and summoned by tlie governor, on the advice of 
the ministers, to answer these accusations. The proof against them, however, was 
insufficient, and they were discharged, with a reprimand to their captain. 



1634.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 37 

milk and honey, and had surrounded their path with bless- 
ings and promises of future prosperity and happiness. 

The Indians ^hc huts of the Indians were of an oblong, 
ofst. Mary'3. ^^^^^j fQ^m, nine or ten feet high, lighted by a 
hole in the roof, which also served as a vent for the smoke. 
They made their fire in the centre, and slept around it at 
night. The tents of the chiefs were larofer and contained 
several apartments; and were supplied with beds, made by 
poles laid across four stakes, which were driven in the 
ground — the whole covered with leaves or skins. One of 
these huts was given to Fathers White and Altham, and was 
fitted up by them to serve as the first church in Maryland. 
The Indians of the neighborhood were tall and comely, but 
disfigured themselves with paint. Their dress was a man- 
tle of deer or other skins, falling from the shoulder, and 
an apron about the waist ; around their necks, they wore 
strings of beads, and upon their foreheads, the figure of a 
fish worked in copper. Their hair was gathered into one 
lock, tied with a fillet and ornamented with feathers. Their 
weapons were bows, and arrows barbed with horn or 
sharpened pieces of flint stone — heavy clubs of knotted 
wood hardened in the fire, spears pointed with flint stone 
heads, and stone axes with hickory branches twisted round 
them for handles. These spear and arrow heads, and axes, 
were worked smooth and to a sharp edge, and sometimes 
polished like marble. They were very skilful in the use of 
their arms, and the bow and arrow were in their hands no 
mean weapons. Their principal food was Indian corn, 
which they prepared in several ways — homini and pone — 
when the corn was ripe — and sucotash and roasted ears 
when young and tender. Each of these modes the colon- 
ists borrowed from them with some little improvements — 
their pone consisted only of crushed corn mixed with water, 
and baked in cakes, upon flat stones, in the fire. To these 
preparations they added fish, game and oysters — besides 
4 



38 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1634. 

they had in proper season, strawberries in immense quanti 
ties and nuts of every kind. Thus they lived in the midst 
of a simple abundance. They were of a noble disposition, 
grave, yet cheerful and kind; generous with what they 
possessed ; frugal, avoiding intoxicating drinks ; chaste in 
their lives — considerate in forming resolutions, but firm in 
maintaininor them when formed. 

They worshipped one God — but they also paid homage to 
the evil spirit whom they called Okee, and sought by sacri- 
fices to win his favor. Corn and fire were adored as deities 
in the following manner. The people gathered from the 
different villages, at the temple of Barcluxor, and formed a 
circle round a great fire, the younger persons in the inner 
row. They then cast a piece of deer's fat into the flame 
and, with uplifted hands, cried *' Taho! Taho!" after this 
they cleared a space, and a bag, containing a pipe and a 
powder called " Potu,"* was produced. This bag was 
carried round the fire, the boys and girls singing in the 
meanwhile "Taho! Taho!" The pipe and powder were 
then taken out and each one smoked a short time, breath- 
ing the vapor over his limbs to sanctify them. Father White 
says they seemed to have some faint tradition of the flood. 

Such were the peaceful and gentle Indians, who wel- 
comed the early settlers of Maryland into their midst; alike 
conferring and receiving favors. For if they sold the pil- 
grims their territory, taught them how to hunt the deer, to 
plant maize and prepare it for the table, and shared their 
huts and their daily food with their white brethren; the 
colonists explained to them the arts of civilized life, their 
priests unfolded to them the inestimable privileges of Chris- 
tianity, and instructed and received many of them into the 
fold of Christ.! 

* Tobacco ? t The above account is taken principally from Father White's Jour- 
nal, found in Rome by the Rev. W^m. McSherry, S. J., a manuscript copy of which 
was kindly furnished me from Georgetown College, and from "A Relation of Mary- 
land," for which the author is indebted to the copious notes of B, U. Campbell, Esq. 



CHAPTER II. 

CLAIBORNE'S REBELLION. 
1634 — 1642, 

JPrIOR to the issuing of the charter, and whilst Maryland 
was yet included within the limits of the royal govern- 
ment of Virginia, Captain William Claiborne had obtained 
from the governor and council of that province, a license 
to trade with the Indians on the Chesapeake. He acccord- 
ingly established a trading post upon Kent island, and 
some time.after, another at the mouth of the Susquehannah. 
Perhaps he had entertained a hope of enlarging his tempo- 
rary occupation, and of securing a grant of it as pro- 
prietor ; at all events, the charter to Lord Baltimore would 
destroy his trade, and he determined to resist it. No 
sooner had the settlers landed at St. Mary's, than Clai- 
borne, having received notice from Governor Calvert, that 
if he remained he would be deemed a subject of the 
colony, applied to the council of Virginia, of which he 
was a member, for instructions how to proceed.* This 
body, which had always opposed the grant to Lord Balti- 
more, and was secretly determined to support the claims 
of Claiborne, replied, that they saw no reason why he 
should give up any territories which he held of them ; and 
taking this for his pretext, he prepared to maintain his 
possessions. His first effort was to destroy the colony by 
means of the hostility of the Indians. For this purpose 
he began to insinuate suspicions into their minds, through 
the instrumentality of Fleet, the interpreter, whom he had 
seduced into his schemes — telling them that the Maryland 
settlers were Spaniards, and his and their secret enemies.! 
Scarcely had the colony been planted a month at St. 

• Boz. 27-32, &tc. t Ibid. 32. 

39 



40 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1635. 

Mary's, when these insidious measures produced their effect 
in the jealousy which appeared in the conduct of the natives. 
Immediately, all other works were suspended ; and the 
settlers turned their whole attention to finishing a block 
house for their protection, in case of necessity, at the same 
time, carefully regulating their conduct to the savages so as 
to dissipate their coldness and reawaken the old feelings 
of confidence and intimacy between them. In six weeks 
the block house was completed. But in the mean while, 
their unchancrincr friendliness to the Indians had convinced 
them of the sincerity of their conduct and the falsehood 
of the insinuations against them, and they gradually re- 
newed the kindly relations which had formerly existed, and 
which were never ao^ain broken through. The colonists 
once more returned to the work of building up their new 
city, and devoted the time, from the finishing of their block 
house to the ripening and gathering of their corn, in 
erecting houses, to replace the temporary huts of the 
Indians which they yet occupied. 

Claiborne, foiled in his first attempt, became desperate, 
and resolved on open measures of hostility. His schemes 
were so far perfected, that early in the year of 1635, he 
fitted out an armed pinnace, with a crew of fourteen men 
under one of his adherents. Lieutenant Warren, to cruize 
against the colonists. Governor Calvert and his people 
met the crisis without hesitation, and two pinnaces were 
immediately armed and manned, and sent against the 
freebooters under the command of Captain Cornwallis. 
They came within sight of Warren's galley in the river 
Pocomoke, on the Eastern shore, and prepared for action, 
awaiting however the fire of the enemy. As they neared, 
the insurgents opened their fire upon them and killed one 
of their men. But it was immediately returned with great 
effect — the galley was captured with the loss of three of 
her crew, one of whom was her commander, Lieutenant 



1635-6.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 41 

Warren himself. The survivors were carried prisoners to 
St. Mary's. Claiborne, who was not in the engagement, 
finding his armament destroyed, fled into Virginia, where 
he expected to find protection from those who had secretly 
supported him. But, determined to vindicate his authority 
and establish the rights of his brother, the lord Proprietary, 
Governor Calvert despatched commissioners to Virginia to 
demand his person as a rebel and a traitor. His friends 
could only aid him so far as to have him sent to England 
by the governor, with the witnesses against him, that he 
might be tried there for the offence he had committed.* 

Under the charter, the power of legislation pirstGenerai 
was vested in Lord Baltimore and a majority of ■^^'^'^^'''y- 
the colonists or their deputies, who were to be assembled 
by the governor. Accordingly, in the beginning of the year 
1635, the freemen of the colony were convened together 
at St. Mary's. Of their proceedings there is little known, 
as the greater portion of the public records were subse- 
quently destroyed. But it may be presumed that as yet 
they were more busily engaged in perfecting and strength- 
ening their town of St. Mary's than with legislative cares. 

The Indians, in compliance with the condi- condiuonsof 
tions of their sale to the settlers, had as soon as ^''^"tauon. 
their own crop of corn was gathered, departed from the 
town, and delivered it up entirely to the whites ; who, for 
the present, beset as they were by the intrigues of Clai- 
borne, and fearful of trusting too implicitly to the faith of 
their allies, restricted their settlements to its immediate 
vicinity. Within the city, lots of five and ten acres were 
granted to all who might apply for them, and tracts, in 
the interior, ranocinsf from one hundred to three thousand 
acres, in proportion to the number of settlers the person 
applying for them introduced into the colony : reserving 
thereon, however, a quit rent of twenty shillings for every 
4* * Bozman, vol. 2, p. 35. 

F 



42 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1636-7. 

thousand acres.* By these means, men of wealth and 
standing were induced to assist the growth of the province 
by bringing numerous emigrants from the mother country. 
Lord Baltimore still remained in England, superintending 
the interests of the colony and fostering emigration, when 
he received notice that the assembly of the freemen had 
passed certain laws which were sent to him for his appro- 
val. Believing that the right of framing laws was vested in 
himself by the charter, he rejected them ; and set about 
preparing a complete system for the government of the 
province, at the same time directing the assembly to be 
called together on the 25th of January 1638, to have his 
dissent announced to them.t In the meanwhile, the in- 
habitants of Kent Island, to a certain extent, had submitted 
to the government of Maryland, and early in 1637 a court 
was established there, in the name of the province, for the 
trial of civil and criminal causes. In December following, 
the better to secure its tranquillity. Captain George Evelin 
was appointed commander of the island. Many of the fac- 
tious adherents of Claiborne still looked forward to a suc- 
cessful establishment of his pretensions, and continued to 
excite a resistance to the processes and warrants of the civil 
courts. This spirit of opposition at length grew to such 
a height, that governor Calvert himself was compelled, in 
the following year, to make an expedition to the island at 
the head of a military force, to bring it to complete subjec- 

* The first conditions were, in 1633, for every five persons between 
the ages of fifteen and sixty, two thousand acres of land, at a rent of 
four hundred pounds of wheat : — for less than five persons, at the rate 
of one hundred acres for each man, one hundred for his wife and each 
servant, and fifty acres for each child under sixteen, at a rent of ten 
pounds of wheat for every fifty acres. In 1635, for every five men 
brought in, a grant was made of one thousand acres, at a rent of twenty 
shillings. Grants of one, two, and three thousand acres were erected 
into manors, with the right, to their owners, of holding courts leet and 
courts baron. t Bozman, Bacon. 



1633.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 43 

tion to his authority.* In the settlement at St. Mary's, the 
plantations had already extended to the west side of St. 
Georore's river, and, there beinor larore accessions of emi- 
grants in this year from the mother country, it was found 
necessary to erect a new hundred, a division similar to 
our election districts. 

Early in 1638, the Assembly, directed to be S^'asSII- 
convened by Lord Baltimore, was summoned by ^'y- 
the governor, and met at the little capital of St. Mary's. 
The constitution of these early legislatures was so different 
from those of the present day as to require a more par- 
ticular notice. By the charter, every free man was en- 
titled to share in making the laws which were to govern 
him, either in person or by his deputy. In the youth 
of the colony, when the inhabitants were still few in num- 
ber, and could be easily assembled, the whole body of 
freemen were required to attend, and those who found it 
inconvenient to be present, were permitted to cast their 
votes by proxy. Thus in the present assembly, its secretary, 
Mr. Lewger, held and voted twelve proxies. But as in a new 
country, with savage neighbors, where a man's presence at 
his plantation was always necessary, it would be sometimes 
difficult to get a full assemblage, the governor was invested 
with the power of summoning, by special writ, those whose 
presence he particularly desired. As every one, at that 
period, possessed the right of being present, this summons 
must have been simply obligatory in its nature, and intend- 
ed to compel the attendance of those who were especially 
qualified to advise and assist as legislators, and yet were 
unwilling to perform the onerous duty required of them. 
To suppose the power was aristocratical, and originally 
intended to secure the governor the control of the house, 
is absurd ; as no matter how many of his adherents he 
might call together, every other free man in the colony 
* Burnap's Life of Calvert— 112; Boz. 44. 



44 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1628. 

could claim and take his seat in the house with equal 
powers and privileges. Subsequently, when the number 
of hundreds increased, two burgesses were elected from 
each : yet, even then, any one who had not voted at their 
election might come forward and claim a seat in the legis- 
lature. At a still later period, this right was taken away by 
the general assembly itself, and, then, this body was com- 
posed of the delegates from the several hundreds, the 
council, and those who might be summoned by special 
writ. With this strange power in his hands, a governor 
could at any moment obtain the control of a house thus 
constituted and limited, by adding to it a sufficient number 
of his own friends. At first there was but one house — 
the governor's council and the delegates sitting together — 
but in process of time they were divided into the upper 
and lower houses ; the council appointed by the lord Pro- 
prietary forming the upper, and the delegates of the people 
the lower. 

The legislature which now assembled, composed of the 
people themselves, secured some of the most important 
rights of the colonists ; and began to lay upon the ground- 
work of the charter the foundation of the liberties of 
Maryland. 

Lord Baltimore now caused the system of laws which 
he had digested, to be presented to them in place of those 
passed by the legislature of 1635, which he had negatived 
because they were not framed by himself. But the people 
fully convinced that the initiative was in them, and that 
the charter only intended to confer upon the Proprietary a 
veto power, vindicated their rights by immediately rejecting 
the whole system, and set about framing such bills as they 
thouorht proper for their situation. The controversy which 
arose on this point, was not of long duration. After hav- 
ing vetoed the forty-one bills adopted at this long session, 
and insisted for a time upon his claim, the lord Proprietary 



1638.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 45 

determined to abandon it; preferring the welfare and pros- 
perity of the colony, which must suffer from want of laws 
during the existence of the controversy, to his own indivi- 
dual privileges, and sensible that the power of negativing 
any bill of which he disapproved, was quite sufficient to 
protect his rights and authority in the province.* 

The insurgents, captured in the engagement with Lieut. 
Warren by Captain Cornwallis, had not yet been tried, for, 
hitherto, there had been no competent tribunal in the colony. 
Now, however, Thomas Smith, the second in command to 
Warren, in his piratical and rebellious expedition, was 
brought to trial for the murder of William Ashmore, who 
had been killed by the fire of the pinnace at the opening 
of the skirmish.! After a full examination of the testimony, 
he was found guilty and sentenced to death, though it is 
not certain that he was executed. Claiborne, the leader 
of the rebellion, was attainted and his property confiscated, 
to the use of the province. These proceedings were, pro- 
bably, the cause of the renewed disturbances in Kent, which 
required the governor's presence in that island, as has 
already been related. The house adjourned from time to 
time, until his return from the expedition in the month of 
March. 

Claiborne himself was still in England, and as active 
in his hostility as ever. Secret intrigue and open violence 
had failed in the new world, and now he endeavored to 
reach his object through the known avarice and unscru- 
pulousness of the royal court. It would seem that he 
was never brought to trial for his rebellion ; for, he boldly 
laid claim to the Isle of Kent and its dependencies, and 
charged the Proprietary's officers with having violently 
assailed his pinnaces and slaughtered his men. He pre- 
sented a petition to the king setting forth his supposed 
grievances, and offering to pay to the crown the yearly 
* Bozman, vol. 2, p. 92. f Bozman, vol. 2, p. 64. 



46 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [163S. 

rent of two hundred pounds sterling for the grant of the 
Isle of Kent, his station at the mouth of the Susquehannah, 
and thirty-six miles width of territory, on each side of that 
river, from the bay to the Canada lakes, which would have 
proved a very large and valuable territory. The matter was 
referred to the lords commissioners of the council for the 
plantations, who reported after a full investigation, that "the 
lands in question (between Claiborne and the Proprietary) 
belonged absolutely to Lord Baltimore, and that no trade 
with the Indians could be carried on there without his 
consent; and that, with regard to the violences complained 
of, no cause for any relief appeared, but that both parties 
should be left to the ordinary course of justice."* Thus 
again baffled, Claiborne returned to Virginia to carry on 
his old schemes of annoyance : but the legislature of that 
colony interfered and compelled him to desist. Then, 
assuming the position of a suppliant, he despatched an 
agent to Maryland praying the restoration of his property 
which had been confiscated by the government. His 
prayer was rejected : and, despairing of success, he aban- 
doned his efforts until a more favorable period should arrive. t 
The Mission- During the first four years of the settlement, 

aries among . . . 

the Indians, the colony was circumscribed withm narrow 
limits, although the Indians in the immediate vicinity per- 
severed in their friendly relations with the whites. To 
these natives alone, therefore, the labors of the two mis- 
sionaries, were devoted in part; for their presence was also 
required in the settlements , and the governor, doubtful of 
the disposition of the savages in the interior, had forbidden 
them to penetrate thither, lest some calamity should befall 
them and the people be deprived of their services. But 
as the colony continued to increase, new missionaries 
arrived from England and the seminary of Douay, and the 
restriction was removed. Immediately, these zealous men 
* Bozman, vol. 2, p. 72, &c. t Burnap, 115 



1634-8J HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 47 

began to press into the interior, and to visit every tribe and 
villajje.* The Indians of Patuxent received them most 
favorably, and bestowed upon them a plantation, called 
Mettapaunien, or " St. Mattapany," on the river Patuxent, 
where a missionary station and store house were at once 
established to serve as the starting point for their labors in 
the wilderness. They usually travelled by water. In a 
small pinnace or barge, a priest, accompanied by a lay brother 
and an interpreter, embarked with a little store of provi- 
sions, carrying with him the sacred utensils, a table for an 
altar, a few bottles of wine for the eucharist, and of conse- 
crated water for baptism. When the wind failed, two of 
them labored at the oar, while the third steered the boat. 
At evening, when they landed, the missionary drew the 
barge ashore, collected dry sticks and wood, and kindled a 
fire, while his companions were hunting game in the forest 
for their frugal repast. At night, they slept upon the shore, 
under cover of a little tent : if it rained, they built them- 
selves a rude hut, wrapped themselves in their blankets, 
and, confiding themselves to God, slumbered as sweetly 
and securely as if surrounded by the luxuries of a palace. 
It was impossible that such zeal and energy should not 
produce abundant fruits. In five years from the date of 
the settlement, they had extended themselves throughout 
a large portion of the province; they had visited many 
tribes and made numerous converts; they possessed four 
permanent stations, the most distant of which was one hun- 
dred and twenty miles from St. Mary's, the seat of the 
colony — one at the settlement, one at Mattapany, one at 
Kent island, and one at Kittamaquindi, the capital of 
Tayac. They were the pioneers of the colonists ; and, thus 
having possession of the shores of the great bay, and com- 
mand of its rivers, they penetrated firom these stations, in 

* See Missionary letters in Burnap, and B. U. Campbell's Early Mis- 
sions of Maryland passim. 



48 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1634-8. 

every direction, to the tribes of the interior, preaching 
Christianity to the savage, and by their gentle influence 
maintaining the peace and quiet of the settlements more 
firmly and securely, than could have done the whole militia 
of the province. But of their works the most important, in 
its results, was the baptism of Tayac. 

Baptism of ^he Piscataways, or Pascatoways,* as they are 
'^'^y'^^' called in Father White's Journal, were the most 
extensive and powerful tribe in Maryland. Their domain 
was bounded, on one side, by the region of the Patuxents, 
and, on the other, by the country of the Susquehannas, and 
covered a territory one hundred and thirty miles in extent, 
perhaps including the fairest and richest portion of Mary- 
land. The chief of these Indians was called Tayac, a title 
of honor and station; his name was Clitomachen. He had 
obtained his power in the tribe by putting his brother, the 
former chief, to death. The mode of his conversion was 
singular. The king of the Patuxents, who had professed 
so much affection for the English, and had listened with 
great docility to the missionaries, suddenly changed his 
whole demeanor, and became cold and indifferent towards 
them. Fearing treachery on the part of the chief, Father 
White, by the advice of the governor, withdrew from St. 
Mattapany and removed to the Piscataways, where he was 
received with great kindness. The chief soon became 
attached to him, and made him reside in his rude and 
simple palace, while the queen prepared his food with her 
own hands. Tayac — so he informed Father White — had 

* The precise situation of these people is disputed. Burnap suppo- 
ses they were the Patapsco tribe, and that Kittamaquindi, their capital, 
was near the present site of Baltimore. B. U. Campbell, Esq., thinks, 
and with more probability, that they were the Piscataways — and that 
Kittamaquindi was situated about fifteen miles below the present city 
of Washington. See Burnap's Life of Leonard Calvert, 87-8, and 
Campbell's Memoir on the Early Missions of Maryland, in the pro- 
ceedings of the Maryland Hist. Society, 8th Jan. 1846. 



1639.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 49 

been warned in dreams of the approach of missionaries, 
who loved him and his people, and would confer great 
blessings upon them. 

Shortly after the arrival of Father White, the Indian 
chief fell sick, and forty conjurors, or medicine men, in 
vain tried every remedy within their power : when the mis- 
sionary, by permission of the sick chief himself, adminis- 
ered some medicine to him, and caused him to be bled. 
The treatment of the priestly physician was skilful and 
judicious ; the invalid began to recover, and was soon re- 
stored to perfect health. Then he determined to be bap- 
tized together with his wife and daughter, and was carefully 
and diligently instructed by Father White, in order that he 
might be prepared for receiving that sacrament with pro- 
per dispositions. He laid aside the dress of skins, which 
he had heretofore worn, assumed that of the English, and 
commenced to learn their language. He delighted in 
religious conversation ; and when the governor once dilated 
to him on the great advantages his people would derive 
from the trade of the settlers, he replied : — " Verily, I con- 
sider these as trifling, when compared with this one benefit, 
that, by tKeir aid, I have arrived at the true knowledge of 
the 9716 God, the most important of all knowledge." 

Being convinced himself, he sought to bring his people 
to the same faith. In an assembly of the chiefs of his 
empire, he told them, " that the superstitions, which they 
had formerly believed, ought to be abolished and Chris- 
tianity adopted ; that there was hope only in one true God, 
and that stones and herbs, which they had heretofore wor- 
shipped, were merely the humblest of his works." Then, 
placing a stone upon his foot, he tossed it to a great dis- 
tance, thus showing his contempt for that, which he had 
before received as a deity. The people, already prepared 
by the preaching of the missionary, loudly applauded the 
speech and action of the king ; and thenceforth the idols 
5 G 



50 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1640. 



began to fall into disrepute. The good dispositions of 
Tayac were strengthened by a visit which he made to St. 
Mary's, in company with Father White. He was much 
impressed by the conduct of an Indian, who was executed 
there for murder. The missionaries endeavored to prepare 
the criminal to meet his fate, and Tayac himself acted as 
their interpreter. The Indian was baptized — and suffered 
with such calmness and resijjnation — unlike the mere 
stoicism of the warrior — that the king, moved by the spec- 
tacle, desired immediate baptism. But, in order that the 
ceremony might be performed with becoming preparation, 
it was deferred for a time. 

On the fifth of July, 1640 (0. S.), in a chapel, built of 
bark for the occasion, at his capital of Kiitamaquindi, in 
the presence of the governor, Leonard Calvert, the secre- 
tary, Mr. Lewger, and many other of the principal inhabi- 
tants of the province, with great pomp and display, Tayac, 
his queen, their little child — a son — and many of the chief 
men of his council, were solemnly baptized and admitted 
into the fold of the church. The king assumed the name 
of Charles, in honor of the English sovereign ; his queen 
that of Mary. The other neophytes also received Christian 
names. In the afternoon, the king and queen were mar- 
ried accordinor to the rio-hts of the church ; and, in com- 
memoration of this auspicious event, a cross of great size 
was erected with religious ceremony, in which the gover- 
nor, the secretary, and other distinguished colonists took 
part. In order to strengthen the bond of union which had 
thus been effected, and to give his people an example of 
the benefits to be derived from religion and civilization, 
Tayac soon after sent his daughter to St. Mary's to receive 
a polished and Christian education, and one of his chiefs 
followed his example. 

Much was hoped from the conversion of Tayac, but, in 
less than a year, he died most piously, in the practice of 



1640-1.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 51 

the religion he had so solemnly adopted. His young 
daughter, now become queen of the Piscataways, was not 
long after baptized at St. Mary's, having already learned the 
English language. The example of Tayac and his family 
was followed by many other natives. The inhabitants of 
the town of Potopaco, now Port Tobacco, to the number 
of one hundred and thirty, together with their queen, were 
baptized — the chiefs and principal men of Potomack town, 
on the Virginia shore, and the chiefs of several neighboring 
villages were converted. While Anacoston, sachem of a 
tribe adjoining the Piscataways, became so firmly attached to 
the whites, that he wished to take up his residence among 
them, as a citizen of the colony. The missionaries, who 
effected so much good, were Father Andrew White, who 
has been called the apostle of Maryland, Fathers John 
Althara, who died at St. Mary's, soon after the baptism of 
Tayac, John Brock, and Thomas Copley. Others soon fol- 
lowed to extend the missions, and supply the place of 
those, who sunk under the exposure and fatigue of their 
laborious duties.* 

Thus guarded and protected by a circle of Christian In- 
dians, bound to them by the ties of gratitude and religion, 
it is not surprising that the pilgrims of Maryland suffered 
but little from the hostility of the natives — yet even they 
were disturbed by a few troubles, which were dignified by 
the title of the Indian wars. 

It was natural that a feeling of jealousy should 

, , ^ , . , Indian War. 

spring up ni the breasts or the natives, as they 
beheld the rapid increase of the colonists, and the exten- 
sion of their settlements, swallowing up their hunting 
grounds and occupying the graves of their forefathers. 
Yet no cause of offence was given them, by the colonists, 
and their affection for the missionaries suppressed every 
feeling of discontent in the minds of the Christian Indians. 
* B. U. Campbell's Early Missions, &c. 



52 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1639-42. 

The Susquehannahs* were the most hostile and warlike of 
the tribes of Maryland, but their country lay far north and 
west of the settlements, while, between, stretched the land 
of the friendly Tayac. The Nanticokes, who also appeared 
inimical to the whites, inhabited the Eastern shore; and the 
waters of the Bay served as a barrier to their incursions, 
until the settlements spread across it: and then the colony 
had become too powerful to dread any, or all the tribes 
united together. The Nan'ticokes were composed of seve- 
ral tribes, and called, in their own language, ^' Jfentego,^^ 
and, in the Delaware, " Unechtgo,'^ or, "Sea-shore Settlers," 
and their territory stretched along both sides of the Nanti- 
coke river, in Somerset and Dorchester county. The other 
principal tribes, on that shore, in common with the Nanti- 
cokes, of the Lenape or Delaware race, were, the Ozinies, 
on the Chester river, the Toghwocks, on the Sassafras, the 
Atquinachunks, on the Delaware, the Wycomeses, and the 
Chopianks. On the Western shore, after the Susquehan- 
nahs, the Patuxents and the Pisca.taways were the most 
important. 

These numerous tribes, united together, would have 
proved very formidable to the settlers ; yet there never was 
any combination of a serious nature, and, perhaps, from 
the very outset, the power of the colony would have been 
more than a match for the warriors of any single tribe. 
Therefore, the Indian wars of Maryland never rose beyond 
petty expeditions, to chastise some hostile tribe, or to cap- 
ture and punish particular individuals, who had committed 
ao-orressions upon the persons or property of the colonists. 
Only once did the savages make a successful inroad of any 
consequence, and that was against a missionary station 
which they destroyed, killing the inhabitants and carrying 
off a considerable booty. But speedy retribution overtook 
them, for they were severely punished by the military force 
* Or Susquehannocks, as they are indifferently called. 



1639-42 ] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 53 

of the province. This massacre was doubtless committed 
by the Susquehannahs on a mission in the country of the 
Piscataways. 

The dread of attack from these powerful and warlike 
savages, rendered it necessary that some general system for 
defence should be adopted. The people were obliged by 
law to keep a sufficient quantity of arms and ammunition 
in their houses, to be ready at a moment's warning; and 
every male, capable of bearing arms, was enrolled in the 
militia, and subject to be called out for the common 
defence. In 1642, when the fear of an invasion by the 
Susquehannahs was very prevalent, new precautions were 
adopted : no man was allowed to fire three shots, in a 
quarter of an hour, except to give alarm of an inroad — 
and every one who heard three shots within that space, 
was directed to repeat the signal, that the whole country 
might be put upon their guard : then the women and chil- 
dren were to betake themselves for safety to the block- 
houses, of which there was one in each hundred, while the 
men armed and rallied together to meet the foe. A garri- 
son was placed in the fort of St. Inigoes, near the capital,* 
as a main strong hold ; and to provide for any sudden out- 
break, when the inhabitants left their homes for religious 
worship, they carried their arms with them, to church or 
chapel, prepared for instant service.! 

In 1639, an expedition was sent against some Indians 
of the Eastern shore, who had given cause of offence, and 
also against the Susquehannahs, who had been molesting 
the friendly tribes of Patuxent and Piscataway. The arma- 
ment consisted of two pinnaces and a skiff, manned with 
thirty "good shot" or marksmen, who were drafted or 
pressed, and several volunteers. To equip and victual this 
force, the governor was under the necessity of sending a 
shallop to Virginia, to procure a supply of arms, ammunition 
* Bozman, 212 ; Bacon. f Burnap. 

5* 



54 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1642. 

and food.* At the same time, the militia of the province 
were put upon a better footing, and drilled and exercised. 
In 1642, the Ozinies became hostile, and as they could 
muster sixty warriors, created considerable uneasiness in 
Kent island, in the vicinity of which their country lay. 
To prevent even the approach of danger, a proclamation 
was issued forbidding their appearance upon the island, 
and authorizing the inhabitants to put to death any who 
should disobey the prohibition. The disaffection, however, 
continued to spread among the tribes, and the Susquehan- 
nahs, Wycomeses and Nanticokes were, in the ensuing 
year, declared enemies of the province. It was at this 
period that the Susquehannahs struck a heavy blow, in the 
destruction of the missionary station already spoken of; 
and, while they were ravaging the western and northern 
frontier, the Nanticokes, on the Eastern Shore, threatened 
the colonists with invasion across the bay. Governor Cal- 
vert was not wanting in this crisis; he determined to antici- 
pate their attack. Having assisted the governor of Virginia, 
upon a similar occasion, in punishing the Indians of the 
Eastern shore for an outrage upon the settlements of that 
colony, he wrote to him, proposing to undertake a joint 
expedition with two hundred men, to be raised equally by 
the two provinces, to chastise the enemy. At home, he 
directed all the frontier settlers to be drawn into the forts 
and block-houses, martial law to be proclaimed, and autho- 
rized the commanders to call out every third man capable 
of bearing arms, in case of necessity. A proclamation, 
similar to that for the protection of Kent island, was issued 
by which every Indian, under penalty of death, was prohi- 
bited from passing within a line drawn from the Patuxent 
to the Potomac. The promptness of his measures pro- 
duced the desired effect; for, though the colony suffered 
occasionally from a hostile inroad, nothing of importance 
* Bozman, vol. 2, p. 162. 



1639-42.] HISTORY OF MA.RYLAND. 55 

occurred; and, in a short time, a truce was concluded with 
the Nanticokes. 

While occupied with these Indian affairs, new troubles 
sprung up in a different quarter. The limits of the charter 
extended to the north beyond the Schuylkill, and, as that 
region presented many advantages, a party of Maryland 
colonists settled there, and began to reclaim and cultivate 
the wilderness.* Lower down, on the bay of Delaware, 
the Swedes had already built a fort; while the Dutch of 
New York laid claim to the whole territory, and fitted out 
an expedition of two armed sloops to take possession of it, 
and to drive away the occupants. The province was too 
much engaged with more pressing affairs at home, to afford 
assistance to the settlers on the Schuylkill, who probably 
abandoned that region, for which the restless New Eng- 
landers now also contended, as included in their grants. 

In the meanwhile, the colonists, in spite of external ene- 
mies and internal malcontents, had gone on improving and 
strengthening their settlements, and extending their legis- 
lation. Lord Baltimore, having, in August 1638, granted to 
the people the right of originating laws, which they claim- 
ed, authorized his brother, in his name, to agree to such 
bills as seemed proper and necessary, to be effectual, until 
he himself should express his disapproval under his seal. 
A new Assembly was therefore summoned. This body 
met at St. Mary's, on the 25th of February, 1639, 0. S., and 
adopted many useful measures. The most important was 
an a.ct establishing general laws for the government of the 
province. By it were secured the rights and franchises of 
the church, the prerogatives of the lord Proprietary, and 
the liberties of the people, according to the magna charta 
of England. Its subsequent sections provided for the ad- 
ministration of justice, the maintenance of civil rights, and 
the punishment of criminal offences. A county court was 
* Bozman, vol. 2, 205; McMahon, 23. 



5Q HISTORY or MARYLAND. [1639. 

established at St. Mary's, which was still the only county 
of the province, although there were many subdivisions of 
hundreds, besides the several settlements upon Kent island, 
now incorporated into a separate hundred. A court of 
chancery was erected, the jurisdiction of justices of the 
peace extended and defined, the duties. of the present 
orphan's court vested in the secretary, a short insolvent 
system framed, and oaths of office prescribed. In addition 
to these, the planting of Indian corn and tobacco was 
regulated, weights and measures ascertained, the custom 
or duty on the exportation of tobacco fixed, and military 
discipline provided for.* 

Heretofore, every free man who had not voted at the 
election for burgesses, was entitled to take his seat in the 
house ; it was now enacted, that only the lieutenant gover- 
nor, his secretary, such gentlemen as he specially sum- 
moned, and the elected representatives of the different 
hundreds, should henceforth constitute the General As- 
sembly. The privileges, thus given to the governor, might 
have been of dangerous consequence — but Leonard Cal- 
vert's long and virtuous administration fully justified the 
confidence which the people then placed in his honor and 
integrity. A bill, passed at this session, displays forcibly 
the condition of the infant province. A water mill, for the 
use of the people, was of the utmost importance, and the 
governor and council were authorized to contract for its 
erection ; provided the cost should not exceed twenty 
thousand pounds of tobacco, the early currency of Mary- 
land, equal, according to the rates of a later period, to the 
sum of three hundred and thirty-three dollars and thirty- 
three and one-third cents, which was to be raised by gene- 
ral taxation in two years.t A similar provision was made 

* Bacon. 

t Bozman, vol. 2, p. 156. The author of " A Relation of Mary- 
land," says, " They have also set up a water mill for the grinding of 



1638-9.] 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



57 



for buildincj a 'Howne house." Both these laws, while 
they display the past weakness of the colony, also prove its 
growing extent and population, which rendered such im- 
provements necessary. Heretofore, hand mills had sufficed 
to grind the Indian corn, in sufficient quantities for the 
sparse settlements — and the house of the governor was 
laro-e enouijh to accommodate their deles^ates. But with 
the necessity came the improvement; and the erection of 
the first water mill and the first State house, may be con- 
sidered an era in the history of Maryland. 

corne adjoining to the towiie. — 1635." Unless this attempt failed, 
wherefore the necessity of setting up one by taxation? 

This author gives the names of some of "the gentlemen adventurers'* 
who accompanied the first colony : 

Leonard Calvert, the governor, ) . 

George Calvert, I ^'' lordship's brothers. 

Jerome Hawley, Esq. ) 

rru r' II- r- > commissioners. 

Thomas Cornwalhs, Esq. 5 

Richard Gerard, son of Sir Thomas Gerard, K. B. 

Edward Wintour, ") 

Frederick Wintour, 5 ^°"' °^ *^^ ^^^^ ^""^ Wintour. 

Henry Wiseman, son to Sir Thomas Wiseman, Bart. 

John Saunders, Thomas Dorrel, 

Edward Cranfield, Captain John Hill, 

Henry Green, John Medcalf, 

Nicholas Fairfax, William Saire. — See also Boz- 

John Baxter, man, vol. 2, p. 26. 



H 



CHAPTER III. 

CLAIBORNE AND INGLE'S REBELLION. 

1643 — 1660. 

VV HILST the little colony was thus steadily progressing, 
in spite of the difficulties which surrounded it, the horizon, 
in the far east, began to darken. The contest between the 
king and the parliament, had broken out in England, and 
it seemed that the latter was about to become victorious. 
The government of Maryland had sprung from a royal 
grant, its Proprietary was an adherent of the king, and the 
storm, which was hurling the king from his throne, could 
scarcely pass by, leaving the Proprietary and his province 
unscathed. The spirit of disaffection already began to 
appear in the settlements ; for the friends and supporters 
of Claiborne and the advocates of the parliament consid- 
ered that the condition of affairs in the mother country 
presented a favorable opportunity to overthrow the power 
of the Lord Proprietary. As the success of the parli- 
ament increased, their party grew in strength ; and Go- 
vernor Calvert, uncertain what course to pursue, and 
anxious to view, in person, the tendency of affairs in the 
mother country, determined to return to England to con- 
sult with his brother. Lord Baltimore. To provide for the 
government of the province, he appointed Mr. Giles Brent 
"lieutenant general, admiral, chief captain, magistrate, and 
commander," and set sail for England in the early part 
of the year 1643. During his absence, the spirit of disaf- 
fection increased and at length broke out in Claiborne's 
and Inofle's rebellion. 

Claiborne's The Indians, either urofed on by the malcon- 

and ingle's . . ® "' 

Eebeiiioii. teuts, or pcrcciving the internal divisions of the 
settlers, were again in motion. Even prior to the depar- 
ture of Leonard Calvert, the Susquehannahs assumed a 

58 



^9 

1613-4.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 

threatening attitude, and the governor '"PP-"'^'' J^^P'^ 
Cornwallis, a man of g-reat .lull and courage exceed, gly 
popular, and possessing the full confidence of ;'--'■'-■ 
I 'taUc command of an expcdit.on to be ra.se by draught 
But that experienced othcer preferrmg vv.lhng serv.ces 
to the compulsory aid of pressed men, the des.gn «a 
changed, and he was authorized to assemble and organize a 
body'of Wunteevs. The Susquehannahs had now become 
™ore formidable, having been furnished -f ^^ 7/;"; 
instructed in their use by the Swedes and Dutch o New 
York and the Delaware, who carried on a wholesale traffic, 
in arms and ammunition, with the Indians bordering on 
the En<xlish and French colonies, to the manifest danger 
of lheir%ettlements, and contrary to the laws of nations. 
Whilst these warlike Indians were threatening the colony 
on the north, Captain Richard Ingle, an associate of Clai- 
borne and a pirate and a rebel, was discovered hovering 
about' the sett ement with an armed ship, holding commu- 
tations with, and endeavoring to strengthen t e numbers 
of, the disaffected. Governor Brent immediately issued a 
proclamation ordering his arrest and the seizure of his ship. 
In.le was taken, but soon succeeded in making his escape, 
to "join Claiborne and concoct fresh designs against the 
peace of the province. 

M length, in 1644, Leonard Calvert returned to Mary- 
land, bearing new commissions from his brother. Lord Bal- 
timore, for tl more firm establishment of the governmen 
He found the province in great disorder, the public ofhcers 
at variance with one another, the encroachments of he 
Indians continuing, the pirate Ingle at large, his untning 
enemy, Claiborne, up in arms and once more in posses- 
Z of Kent island. A rcconnoi.ering party of eight men, 
. under Mark Pheypo and John Genalles, was "™-diately 
despatched across the bay, in a light shallop, to watch the 
* Bozman, vol. 2, p. 273. 



60 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1645. 

movements of the insurgents; and preparations were made 
to dislodge them. They were proclaimed public enemies.* 
But the efforts of Governor Calvert to obtain possession 
of Kent island failed ; and the two rebels, emboldened by 
their success and certain of assistance from their friends, 
invaded the Western shore, and, after a short struggle, 
obtained complete possession of the province. Governor 
Calvert was compelled to fly to Virginia, and the con- 
querors immediately commenced a system of outrage and 
oppression upon those who had adhered to his fortunes and 
supported the laws of the colony. Many were robbed of 
all their possessions, and banished from the province, and 
those, who were permitted to remain, were so despoiled as 
almost to become destitute of the means of subsistence.! 
Even the missionaries, amongst whom was the venerable 
Father White, the apostle of Maryland, were seized and sent 
in chains to England, where long imprisonment awaited 
them.t They took possession of the provincial records, 
which they so mutilated and destroyed, that it is almost 
impossible to obtain an accurate account of their proceed- 
ings, or of the struggle which preceded their success. § 

In England, the parliament had at length utterly over- 
thrown the power of the king, who was now a captive in 
their hands ; and the last stronghold of his partizans had 
been surrendered to the arms of their successful generals. , 
Claiborne and Ingle acted in the name of the parliament, 
and perhaps under the authority of the Earl of Warwick, 
who by an ordinance of parliament, had been declared 
the governor in chief of all the American colonies ; and 
their success, in these circumstances, seemed a death 
blow to the supremacy of Lord Baltimore, in the province. 
He felt this, and accordingly, in 1646, directed his brother, 
the late governor, and Mr. Lewger, the secretary, to collect 

* Jan. 1645, O. S. f Bozman ; Burnap. J Campbell. 

§ Bozman, 290 j Burnap, 218. 



1616.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 61 

and take charge of such of his private property as might 
be saved from the wreck of his fortunes, apparently aban- 
doning forever the hope of recovering his Proprietary 
rights. But Leonard Calvert would not so easily submit 
to the overthrow of his just authority, and the destruction 
of their common prospects. The inhabitants of Vir- 
ginia had remained loyal to the crown, and, perhaps, the 
majority of the people of Maryland were at least firmly 
attached to the mild and parental government of the Cal- 
verts. In Virginia, therefore. Governor Calvert found a 
safe refuofe, and soon beoan to collect the means for a final 
effort to subdue the rebels ; — while, in Maryland, the sys- 
tematic outrages, the oppression, and the misrule of the 
usurpers, before long, prepared the people to sustain him in 
his attempt. At length, having completed his preparations, 
and believing the time propitious for his undertaking, about 
the close of the year 1646, at the head of the military force 
which he had levied, he crossed the Potomac, surprised the 
enemy, and, having gained an almost bloodless victory, re- 
entered St. Mary's in triumph, and once more took pos- 
session of the government. 

Captain Hill, who had acted as governor under a com- 
mission from the council, submitted and retired to Virginia, 
without attempting to maintain his power ; and in a short 
time the whole Western shore, after having been under the 
dominion of the rebels for nearly two years, joyfully re- 
newed its allegiance to Lord Baltimore. Such of the mis- 
sionaries as still survived in freedom a^ain returned to their 
flocks, who rejoiced in beholding them once more: and the 
old peace and freedom were re-established.* Father White 
was not one of this fortunate number: his eyes were ever 
turned longingly towards his rude flock in the wilderness 
of Maryland — but he was destined never to return among 
them. Banished from England, he again ventured back 

* B. U. Campbell. 
6 



62 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [164fr-7. 

into the kingdom, in defiance of the penal laws, to pursue 
his duties as a priest, and was again imprisoned. He died 
in London, on the 27th of December, 1656, in the seventy- 
eighth year of his age. 

Kent island, however, the stronghold of the malcontents, 
did not submit so easily as the rest of the province ; and it 
was found necessary to declare martial law, to cut off all 
communication from without, and to send an expedition, 
under the governor himself, into the island, before the 
rebels could be reduced once more under the authority of 
the lord Proprietary. Proper measures were immediately 
adopted to secure the tranquillity of the island, or county as 
it was now called ; and, desirous of healing old differences, 
and subduing the hostility of the disaffected by kindness 
and generosity, the goviirnor granted an amnesty to most 
of the offenders, and returned to St. Mary's.* 

Order was restored once more to the colony ; renewed 
prosperity, the necessary result of its internal resources and 
its re-established tranquillity, already commenced to dawn 
upon the inhabitants, when a new, and almost irreparable, 
misfortune befell them, in the death of their amiable yet 
enterprizing governor. At St. Mary's, surrounded by his 
family and friends, on the 9th of June, 1647, Leonard Cal- 
vert breathed his last, having, in virtue of the power vested 
in him by his brother, named Thomas Greene his successor 
as governor of Maryland.! During the space of fourteen 
years, he had guided the colony through the storms which 
darkened around its infancy — he had devoted his whole 
life and energies to its permanent establishment — with a 
disinterested self-devotion, he had striven, in the wilderness, 
for its glory and its prosperity : and it seemed as if, through 
a special providence of heaven, to reward his labors, a 
beam of sunshine and tranquillity had broken over the pro- 
vince as he was about to die, at peace with all, triumphant 
♦ Bozman t Burnap. 



1647.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 63 

over the enemies of Maryland; full of honor, and enriched 
with the prayers and blessings of a rescued people. His 
character, public and private, was without stain, his abilities 
were undoubted, his government kind and parental, and 
his memory was long cherished by the colonists with grate- 
ful recollection. He was, indeed, a great and good man, — 
more truly illustrious, in what he founded and reared, than 
the greatest conquerors, in what they have overthrown and 
destroyed. 

Governor Greene immediately entered upon the duties 
of his office, and his first effort was to prevent any attempt 
to disturb the peace of the colony, on the part of Captain 
Hill or his adherents, who had taken refuge across the 
Potomac. As the session of the provincial court was ap- 
proaching, he issued a proclamation, prohibiting any of the 
refugees from claiming the assistance or judgment of the 
court, in any case, in their favor, until they had taken the 
oath of fealty, therein prescribed, to the government. But 
a difficulty now sprung up from another source. During 
tlie past commotions, the colonists had neglected, or been 
unable, to plant a sufficient quantity of corn ; and a scar- 
city of food began to be apparent. The troops, which 
Governor Calvert had enlisted in Virginia, were not yet 
paid or discharged, and it was found difficult to furnish 
them with subsistence. They had been denied the privi- 
lege of plundering the rebels, and the poverty of the pro- 
vince rendered it very difficult, after the late disorders, to 
raise their arrears of pay. To satisfy their present demands, 
Governor Green issued a proclamation, directing a seizure 
of all the corn which the people might have, over and 
above a sufficiency for their own use, to be paid for out of 
his lordship's estate at the rate of one hundred and twenty 
pounds of tobacco per barrel, or to be replaced, provided 
enough should be imported into the colony.* Mrs. Marga- 
* Boz. 309, 313, 315. 



64 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1647-8. 

ret Brent, a relative and the administratrix of the deceased 
governor, a woman of great spirit and energy, had already 
exhausted all the resources of his estate to meet the crisis ; 
and the legislature, which met shortly after, confirmed the 
measures of the governor, allowing each family to retain 
two barrels of corn per head, excepting infants, and fixing 
the rate of compensation, for the quantity pressed for the 
public service, at one hundred and fifty pounds of tobacco 
per barrel. The governor had considered it prudent, in the 
deranged state of affairs, to prohibit the exportation of corn 
or horses from the province until the scarcity should be reme- 
died : this measure was also approved of, and continued. 
At the close of the session, to heal up all existing diflTer- 
ences, a general pardon was proclaimed for those rebels 
who might embrace its terms, excepting therefrom only 
Captain Richard Ingle. Thus seems to have ended this 
rebellion, which had been boldly conceived, and energeti- 
cally executed ; and which was successful for a time, but 
overthrown throucrh the excesses of its leaders and the 
affection of the people for the Calverts. Its lingering con- 
sequence vvas longest felt, in the threatening aspect of the 
Indians, who still continued so hostile, that the governor 
found it necessary to adjourn the county court, lest the 
absence of jurymen, parties, and witnesses, from the fron- 
tier districts, in their attendance upon it, should weaken 
those exposed portions of the settlements and subject them 
to outrage. 

Liberty of Mingling in the political causes, which brought 
conscience. ^^ ^j^-g rebellion, was a feeling of religious in- 
tolerance, in the insurgents, which wreaked itself upon 
the missionaries, and caused the first infringement on the 
rights of liberty of conscience in Maryland. 

Lord Baltimore now perceived, that, while some conces- 
sions to the disaffected might be necessary to maintain his 
province, new guards were required to prevent the growing 



1649] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. ^ 

feeling of bigotry from destroying the sanctuary which he 
had e"rected°at the cost of so much care and treasure. 
Therefore, in 1648, he appointed William Stone governor 
of the province, and prescribed the famous oath of office, 
as a further guaranty for the continuance of liberty of con- 
science and full toleration to all persons who professed 
to believe in Jesus Christ.* Governor Stone entered 
upon his duties towards the close of the year 1648, or 
the opening of the ensuing year. On the 2d of April. 
1649, the General Assembly was convened at St. Mary's, 
and, to give additional security, to the safeguards which 
Lord Baltimore had already provided, passed an act, that 
must forever render memorable the founders and people of 
Maryland. After enacting severe punishments for the 
crime of blasphemy, and declaring that certain penalties 
shall be inflicted upon any one who shall call another a 
'sectarian name of reproach, it proceeds with the sublime 
declaration : " and whereas the enforcing of conscience, 
in matters of religion, hath frequently fallen out to be of 
danaerous consequence, in those commonwealths where it 
has been practised, and for the more quiet and peaceable 
government of this province, and the better to preserve 
mutual love and unity amongst the inhabitants, &c., no 
person or persons whatsoever, within this province or the 
islands, ports, harbors, creeks or havens thereunto belong- 
i„a, professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall from hence- 
forth be any ways troubled, or molested, or discountenanced 
for or in respect of his or her religion, nor in the free exer- 
cise thereof, within this province or the islands thereunto 
belonging, nor any way compelled to the belief or exercise 
of any other religion, against his or her consent." t 

The passage of this act is one of the proud boasts ot 
Maryland, and its exact execution, until the government 
..as overthrown by the rebellion of Claiborne and Ingle. 
• Bozman, vol. 2, p. 335 ; McMahon, 226. t Bacon'8 Laws. 

6* I 



66 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [Ibt9. 

and from its restoration until the revolution of 1689, forms 
one of her greatest glories. This true toleration and liberty 
of conscience, won for her the name of the " Land of ike 
sanctuary.''^ Whoever was oppressed and suflered for con- 
science, might there find refuge — whoever fled from intoler- 
ance, there received shelter, protection, and repose. The Ca- 
tholic and the Protestant, the Puritan, the Episcopalian, the 
Presbyterian and the Friend, there joined hands together, in 
peace and fellowship, worshipping God securely, according 
to the dictates of their conscience — for there was none to 
"molest or discountenance them." Even relio^ious contro- 
versy and sectarian strife, the bane of peace and union, were 
banished, and whoever dared to stigmatize his fellow man as 
" heretic, schismatic, idolater, Puritan, Independent, Pres- 
byterian, Popish Priest, Jesuit, Jesuited Papist, Lutheran, 
Calvinist, Anabaptist, Brownist, Antinomian, Barrowist, 
Eound-head, Separatists, or any other name or term, in a 
reproachful manner, relating to matter of religion,"* was 
subject to a fine often shillings sterling, one half to be paid 
to the party insulted, and in default thereof, to be publicly 
whipped and imprisoned until he should make ample satis- 
faction to the party offended, by asking and receiving his 
forgiveness, publicly, and in the presence of the chief offi- 
cer of the place where the offence had been committed. 
Far, even in advance of the toleration of the present day, 
was the liberty of conscience of early Maryland, in this 
respect; for it protected the feelings, as well as the rights 
and privileges of the citizens. 

Yet, glorious as were the main features of this act, and 
honorable to its framers, it is to be regretted that some of 
its provisions infringed on that mere general toleration 
which had flourished before its passage, under the mild 
rule of the Lord Proprietary. The members of the assem- 
bly who passed the act, and the governor and council who 

* See Bacon's Laws for the act. 



1642-9] HISTORY- OF MARYLAND. 67 

confirmed it, were men of different religious creeds, and 
all the people of Maryland may claim this glory of their 
forefathers, as their equal and common heritage, while all 
must equally regret the penalties, which its first section 
denounces, but which do not appear to have been ever 
enforced. But this act, in its best provisions, was only the 
solemn recording of that law, which had heretofore govern- 
ed the province, and which had been laid down by its 
Catholic founders, and proclaimed from its first settlement. 
And yet the greatest misfortunes of the province sprang 
out of the most important exercise of this liberality. 

The Puritans had established congregations in Virginia, 
and three ministers were sent from Boston to attend them ; 
but as their numbers began to increase, the government 
determined to break them up, and, in 1642, the members were 
commanded by proclamation to conform to the established 
church of Virginia, or to depart from the province. For a 
time they continued to evade this order, but, in 1648, they 
were driven from that colony.* Many of them, with Rich- 
ard Bennett at. their head, early in the year 1649, sought 
refuge in Maryland, were kindly received, and settled at a 
place which they called Providence, probably, near the pre- 
sent city of Annapolis, in Anne Arundel. They refused to 
take the oath of fealty to the province, which the law re- 
quired from all emigrants, upon obtaining patents for their 
lands. They formed themselves into a community, gov- 
erned by their own congregational church system, occupied 
the lands without any formal grants, and had no recognised 
connection with the colony, until in July, 1650, when their 
settlement was erected into a county, and a commander 
and justices of the peace appointed, as in Kent and St. 
Mary's. 

Events in EnMand had now taken such a course as to 
affect, materially, the condition of Maryland. The king, 
who had been captured by the republicans, was brought to 
• Bozman, vol. 2, p. 370. 



68 HISTORY or MARYLAND. [1C50-51. 

trial before a tribunal, erected by them for the purpose, 
sentenced to death, and publicly executed on the 30th of 
Japuary, 1650; and the parliament, to destroy royalty in 
England for ever, issued a decree declaring it to be treason 
for any one to acknowledge his son Charles as king. In 
spite of this prohibition, he was immediately and formally 
proclaimed by the authorities of Maryland ; and, to com- 
memorate his accession, a general pardon for all oftenceg 
was published by the governor. This daring act of loyalty 
aroused the adherents of the parliament, and finally led to 
the reduction of Maryland. 

Yet one of the earliest acts of the young king, was an 
infringement of the chartered rights of the proprietary and 
his loyal people. Dissatisfied with the toleration granted 
to the Puritans, and the apparent adhesion of Lord Balti- 
more to the commonwealth — the then existing govern- 
ment of England, — Charles the Second, whilst an exile in 
France, in February, 1650, issued a commission to Sir 
William Davenant, the poet, appointing him governor of 
Maryland — an office which he never attempted to assume. 
Yet the prudent submission of the proprietary to the ruling 
powers, although it brought upon him the anger of the 
king, did not preserve him nor his province from the grasp 
of the commonwealth. Before the complete overthrow of 
the royal cause, he had followed the fortunes of Charles the 
First, and won his favor so far as to obtain from him two 
commissions, one to his brother and himself relative to the 
trade of the province, and the other to himself alone, au- 
thorizing him to collect the revenue of Virginia for the 
crown. These facts, while they did not serve to excuse 
his submission to the victorious party in the eyes of the 
exiled Charles, seemed to the partizans of the common- 
wealth, charges against him of sufficient importance to 
justify them in interfering with his government and wrest- 
in£[ his province from his hands. 



1650-1.] HISTORY OP MARYLAND. 69 

The Puritans had gradually grown in strength, 

, . f. !•• • -B/riiT* The reduc- 

since their first admission into Maryland. Be- tion of Mary- 
sides a colony brought over by Governor Stone, 
another had lately arrived from England, under Richard 
Brooke, and settled in the county of Charles, which was 
erected for them, and of which their leader was made com- 
mander. When the Assembly was called, consisting of 
fourteen delegates, it was found that the partisans of the 
commonwealth were in the majority : at first, however, the 
Puritans of Providence had refused to send representatives; 
and it was not until the governor visited them in person to 
persuade them that they consented. At the same time, 
they began to give currency to a report, doubtless derived 
from their friends in England, that Lord Baltimore's gov- 
ernment was about to be overthrown, and the province 
"reduced" under the control of the commissioners of par- 
liament. The authorities made an effort to put a stop to 
these rumors, but it was soon discovered that they were not 
without foundation. Parliament had passed an ordinance 
for the reduction of Barbadoes and Virginia, which, how- 
ever, was not put in execution until the year following, when 
a commission was issued to sundry persons, among whom 
were William Claiborne, whose intriguing appears through- 
out the whole transaction, and, the Puritan, Richard Ben- 
nett, who had been so lately received into the province, 
when exiled from Virginia. The appointment of these two 
men boded ill for Maryland. With a fleet of several armed 
vessels, and a regiment of seven hundred men, the com- 
missioners, who were in England, set sail for the colonies. 
After a short struggle, they obtained possession of Barba- 
does, and proceeded to Virginia, where they were joined 
by Bennett and Claiborne. The governor of Virginia made 
his submission and received favorable terms. Although the 
duties of the commissioners had now been performed, the 
opportunity of revenging fancied wrongs, and gratifying an- 



70 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1652. 

cient hostility was too favorable for Claiborne to permit it to 
pass unimproved. Bennett joined eagerly in the scheme, 
and, although the province of Maryland, after having been 
included in the commission, was exempted from it, under 
color of some general terms, they resolved to extend their 
authority over it. Towards the close of March, 1652, they 
arrived at St. Mary's, and required that the colony should 
conform to the laws and submit to the authority of the 
commonwealth, saving Lord Baltimore's rights. To this 
Governor Stone consented : but when they insisted that 
the name of the Proprietary should be erased from all writs 
and processes, and that of the commonwealth used in its 
stead, he felt himself compelled to resist. They then de- 
manded an inspection of his commission, and when he 
produced it, violently seized upon it, and removed him and 
his subordinates from office. They next appointed a coun- 
cil, of which Robert Brooke was made president and acting 
governor, took possession of the records, and entirely abol- 
ished the authority of the Proprietary in the province. The 
commissioners then departed to Virginia, and declared 
Richard Bennett governor, and Claiborne secretary of that 
province, and having made some further regulations for its 
government, revisited St. Mary's to arrange that of Mary- 
land on a similar basis. They reinstated Governor Stone 
in his office, upon somewhat modified conditions, delivered 
over to Claiborne Kent island and Palmer's island, at the 
mouth of the Susquehanna, and returned again to Virginia. 
Thus, Claiborne was once more successful, and the power 
of Lord Baltimore acrain overthrown.* 

A treaty was now entered into with the Susquehannahs, 
by which they ceded to the colony all their territory from 
Palmer's island to the Patuxent, and a large tract on the 
Eastern shore. No sooner had this powerful tribe thus 
buried the hatchet, than the Nanticokes broke in upon the 
*^ Bozman, vol. 2, p. 448. 



1652-3.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 71 

Eastern shore settlers, burning, killing and ravaging. Ter- 
ror prevailed among the inhabitants ; and an earnest effort 
was made by the governor to raise a force and protect the 
frontiers. Every seventh man, capable of bearing arms, 
was ordered to muster into service, to be fitted out at the 
expense of the remaining six ; boats were pressed, and the 
whole expedition was ordered to rendezvous at St. Matta- 
pany, under the command of Captain Fuller. The Puritans 
of Anne Arundel, however, refused to make their levies, 
selfishly alleging as the reason, the hardships of the season, 
December and January, and the danger to their health, 
from exposure on the bay and rivers in open boats. Delays 
thus arose, and, perhaps the note of preparation causing a 
cessation of outrage, the soldiers already levied were dis- 
charged to their homes and the expedition abandoned.* 

For several years, the inhabitants had devoted themselves 
very extensively to the culture of tobacco, somewhat to the 
neglect of corn, which, during the late commotions, had 
been still less attended to ; a second season of scarcity was 
the consequence. Tobacco and corn were from the earliest 
period the staples of Maryland commerce : the first crop 
of Indian corn gathered by the pilgrims at St. Mary's, 
afllbrded them a surplus with which they opened a coasting 
trade to New England, which was also, afterwards, carried 
on with New Amsterdam. Subsequently, when the culture 
of tobacco and corn grew extensive, this trade increased : 
indeed the greater portion of their tobacco passed through 
the hands of the Dutch, who were then monopolizing the 
carrying trade of the world. In 1640, all commerce with 
foreign countries was prohibited to the colonies by the 
British parliament : and, by the famous navigation act, the 
carrying trade, which the Dutch still enjoyed between Eng- 
land and the colonies, was entirely cut off. Thus the 
colony was deprived of that privilege of free trade, which 

♦ Bozman, 



72 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1653-4. 

Lord Baltimore had secured it, and suffered greatly from 
the consequent diminution of its commerce in tobacco 
which rendered the pressure of the scarcity of corn more 
severe. 

The Lord Proprietary, thus dispossessed of his province, 
did not rest quietly under the manifest wrong and injustice 
which had been done him. He immediately took steps to 
call the commissioners to account, for their illegal proceed- 
ings in Maryland, while their agents presented a petition 
on their behalf, to the parliament. It was dismissed : and, 
the parliament having been dissolved by Cromwell, who 
had seized upon the reins of government, and the Dutch 
war beinor then at its heiorht, no further notice was taken 
of the matter. Lord Baltimore, perhaps relying upon the 
growing tendency of Cromwell to monarchical power, de- 
termined to right himself in spite of the republicans, and 
directed Governor Stone to require all persons to take the 
oath of fidelity, and to re-establish the Proprietary govern- 
ment, which was accordingly done in 1654. 

No sooner had Claiborne and Bennett, in Virginia, heard 
of these proceedings, than they hastened to Providence to 
restore the old order of things. Both parties began to arm : 
but the commissioners, having gathered their adherents in 
strength, on the northern boundaries of the loyal districts, 
threatened them, on the south, with an invasion by a strong 
force from Virginia, and Governor Stone, timid or disaf- 
fected, again submitted. They took possession of the pro- 
vince, and issued, in the name of Cromwell, whom Stone 
had already proclaimed, a commission for its government, 
at the head of which was placed Captain William Fuller. 
Their next step was to disfranchise the very men who had 
received them into the province when flying from persecu- 
tion abroad. An assembly was called, but neither a Ca- 
tholic nor any one who adhered to the royal cause, was 
allowed to vote for delegates to it or sit therein as a mem- 



1654-5.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 73 

ber. As soon as this body, thus constituted, and repre- 
senting a minority of the people, assembled, it proceeded 
to pass a law, excluding both the Catholics and the mem- 
bers of the church of England from the protection of the 
government. Thus was consummated a deed which stained 
the fair fame of Maryland ; but it was the act of recent 
emigrants, who felt themselves strong in the power of their 
party, which was now predominating in England. By 
the same Assembly an act was passed to prevent the taking 
of the oath of fidelity to the lord Proprietary. 

When Lord Baltimore was apprized of these proceedings, 
he despatched a special messenger, William Eltonhead, to 
the colony, with a severe rebuke to Governor Stone for 
thus yielding up his authority without a blow, and instruc- 
tions to resume it immediately. Accordingly, in the open- 
ing of the year 1655, Stone issued commissions to his 
friends, and began to make levies among the people of St. 
Mary's, who had ever remained faithful to the Proprietary. 
In a short time, he found himself at the head of two hun- 
dred men. Believing himself strong enough to strike, he 
despatched a party of twenty men under William Eltonhead 
and Josias Fendall, to recover the records of the province, 
which the commissioners had seized and removed to the 
house of Richard Preston on the Patuxent, and to capture 
a magazine of arms and ammunition gathered there by the 
Puritans. The party was completely successful, and the 
records, together with the magazines were once more 
restored to St. Mary's. Then, having pressed into his ser- 
vice ten or twelve vessels, lying in the harbor. Governor 
Stone embarked part of his force and set out against the 
people of Providence. On his way, he was met by mes- 
sengers from Captain Fuller and his council, remonstrating 
against his proceedings, desiring to know by what autho- 
rity he acted, and protesting, " that by the help of God, they 
were resolved to commit themselves into the hands of God, 
7 K 



74 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1655-7. 

and rather die like men, than live like slaves." Gov. Stone 
returned no answer to the messengers, whom he detained, 
thereby hoping to take his enemies by surprise. Three of 
them, however, made their escape to Providence, and the 
Puritans, thus put upon their guard, began their prepara- 
tions for defence. 

There was an armed merchantman, the " Golden Lyon," 
at anchor in the harbor, commanded by Captain Heamans ; 
this vessel with its crew, they succeeded in winning to their 
cause. With this aid, and their own people collected and 
armed, and with the certainty of reinforcements from Clai- 
borne's men upon the isle of Kent, which lay plainly in 
sight across the noble expanse of water, they felt themselves 
strong enough to bid defiance to their opponents. In the 
meanwhile, governor Stone despatched Doctor Luke Bar- 
ber, and others, envoys to the Puritans to demand an uncon- 
ditional submission : but the message produced no effect, 
and he immediately entered the mouth of the harbor with 
his twelve sail of transports. As he was about to effect a 
landing, the Golden Lyon fired a gun at his little fleet, and, 
a second shot falling close to the boats, he sent to require 
the reason for this conduct; but the merchantman persisted 
in taking part with the Puritans, and, his own small craft 
having no metal to oppose to her, he assumed, during the 
night, a position higher up the creek. Early next morning, 
the Golden Lyon, and some other vessels, with two pieces of 
cannon, were moored across the mouth of the creek, so as 
lo blockade the fleet, and, as soon as the governor drew 
out his little force in array upon the shore, they opened 
their batteries upon them, killing one of his men and com- 
pelling him to withdraw out of reach of their shot. While 
affairs were thus progressing, Capt. Fuller, at the head of 
one hundred and seventy men, embarked in boats from 
Providence, and, having gone some distance up the river, 
landed, and made a circuit round the creek to the place 



1655.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 75 

where the forces of governor Stone were lying.* As soon 
as their approach was discovered, the latter drew out in 
battle array, and the two parties, shouting out their respec- 
tive battle cries — " In the name of God fall on — God is our 
strength!'' and, '' Hey for St. Mary's!" rushed to the con- 
flict. For a time the fight was well sustained ; but, at 
length, the undisciplined levies of the yeomen of St. Mary's, 
began to yield before the charge of the Puritans, whose 
captain, with many of his men, had doubtless been inured 
to battle in the wars of England under the victorious ban- 
ner of Cromwell. Defended by a fallen tree, a portion of 
the Marylanders continued to maintain the action long after 
the main body had been defeated. Of the whole force only 
four or five escaped, fifty were killed or wounded, attesting 
the obstinacy of the conflict, and the rest taken prisoners. 
Among the slain, was Thomas Hatton, secretary of the 
province : and Governor Stone, Col. Price, Major Chandler, 
and Captains Gerard, Lewis, Fendall and Guither, (the gov- 
ernor and several others being also wounded,) were among 
the prisoners. The vessels, arms and ammunition of the 
defeated party, fell into the hands of the conquerers, whose 
loss was only two killed on the field, and several wounded, 
two of whom died soon after the conflict. This battle, so 
disastrous to the fortunes of Lord Baltimore, was fought 
on the 25th March, 1655. 

Yet complete and decisive as was this victory, it was im- 
mediately stained by an act, as cruel and bloody, as it was 
unnecessary. The governor and several of his council and 
others to the number of ten, were condemned to death, 
although they had surrendered themselves upon the pledge 
of quarter; and four of them, William Eltonhead, (Lord 
Baltimore's special messenger), his servant, Lieut. Lewis, 
and Mr. Leggatt, were shot in cold blood. The rest only 
escaped at the stern intercession of the victorious soldiery 
* Chalmers, Stone's force was 130 men. 



76 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [IU56. 

themselves, after the prayers of the females of the settlement 
had proved ineffectual — some of them, at the very moment 
they were being led forth to execution. Nothing in the 
history of the colony can compare with this cold blooded 
and nefarious outracre. The ofovernor and his council were 
detained prisoners for some time, and were prohibited from 
communicating with theii friends: Gove^^nor Stone was not 
allowed even to write to his wife, at St. Mary's, without 
submitting the letter to the inspection of his keepers. This 
lady was at length permitted to visit her husband, and to 
nurse him, during his recovery from his wounds. Before 
leaving St. Mary's for the purpose, she wrote a detailed 
account of these unfortunate transactions, to Lord Balti- 
more. Being thus undisputed masters of the colony, the 
Puritans proceeded to confiscate the property of all who 
had taken up arms to resist their encroachments and sus- 
tain the cause of the Proprietary.* 

Both parties now appealed to Cromwell ; Bennett, who 
had hastened to England, on the part of the Puritans, and 
Lord Baltimore, in his own behalf. After various proceed- 
ings, the protector referred the matter to the lords commis- 
sioners, Whitelock and Widrington, who, it is probable, 
reported in favor of the Proprietary's right to the govern- 
ment, but owing to the pre-occupation of the protector and 
his council with more pressing matters, the report remained 
unconfirmed. Claiborne and Bennett renewed their peti- 
tions and representations, while Lord Baltimore without 
waiting for further approval, determined to make another 
effort to restore his authority. On the 10th of July, 1656, he 
appointed Capt. Josias Fendall, governor of the province : 
but, before he could take any effective steps, the new gov- 
ernor was arrested by the Puritans, "upon suspicion," and 
brought before the provincial court, to answer the charge 
"of dangerousness to the public peace." He denied the 
• Bozman, vol. 2, pp. 501-520; McMahon, 207. 



1656.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 77 

power of the court to try him, and was ordered to be im- 
prisoned until Cromwell should settle the disputed affairs 
of the colony. A month later, having grown weary of con- 
finement, he made his submission, took an oath not to 
disturb the peace of the commonwealth, and obtained his 
release. 

In the mean time, the controversy had been referred to 
the "commissioners of trade," in England: they reported 
entirely in favor of the lord Proprietary, who now renewed 
his instructions to Governor Fendall, directinij that the act 
for freedom of conscience should be duly observed in Mary- 
land, and commanding him to reward, with grants of lands, 
those who had been active in his behalf — to take especial 
care of the widows of those, who had been killed in his 
service, — particularly Mrs. Hatton, Mrs. Lewis and Mrs. 
Eltonhead — supplying them out of his rents, in a comforta- 
ble manner, and tendering them the assurance, that his 
lordship would endeavor to obtain justice upon their hug- 
bands' murderers ; in fine to cherish all who had shown 
zeal in his cause according to their respective merits.* To 
aid and give countenance to his governor, he appointed his 
brother, Philip Calvert, secretary of the province, and sent 
him thither early in the spring of 1657. The new governor 
and secretary obtained possession of the capital without 
difficulty, and soon succeeded in extending their authority 
over the faithful county of St. Mary's ; but beyond this their 
success did not immediately extend. Maryland was now 
under a divided rule. For a time Capt. Fuller and his 
council — governed the north, at Providence, destined here- 
after under the name of Annapolis to become the capital 
of the colony and the state ; and Governor Barber, (whom 
Fendall, being compelled to visit England on the affairs of 
the province, had appointed by virtue of his commission to 
act in his absence,) and the friends of the lord Proprietary, 
„^ * Bozman, vol. 2, p. 698. 



I- 



78 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1657. 

held possession of the ancient city of St. Mary's. The 
Puritans, determined to consider their authority as still un- 
disputed, and probably having possession of the records 
and public seals, summoned an Assembly, which convened 
at Patuxent on the 24th of September, 1657, and proceeded 
to confirm the authority of their party. They also levied a 
poll tax to pay the public expenses, and appointed com- 
missioners to collect the fines, imposed upon the adherents 
of the Proprietary.* But their domination was near its end. 
Cromwell had grown weary of republicanism. He had 
rejected the title of king, for the power of dictator ;^ and he 
sought to gather around him the old nobility of England. 
The prospects of the Proprietary, therefore, began to 
brighten daily, for the political principles of his oppo- 
nents were no longer in favor. Bennett soon perceived 
the turn of affairs, and, despairing of maintaining the su- 
premacy of his party, hastened to make an agreement 
with Lord Baltimore, in their name, by which the whole 
province was to be surrendered up once more to its rightful 
owner, leaving the disputes which had arisen, and the 
offences which had been committed, during the troubles, 
to the adjudication of the protector. It was also agreed 
that patents for their lands, under the condition of planta- 
tion, should be issued to them ; and all persons desirous 
of quitting the province, should have the privilege of doing 
so without hindrance. Lord Baltimore further pledged 
himself, never to consent to the repeal of the law in favor 
of freedom of conscience, which he had always firmly 
cherished and endeavored to preserve, and which the Puri- 
tans now desired to be enforced as a protection to them- 
selves.! This agreement Governor Fendall brought with 
him on his return from England, in 1658, together with 
instructions, relative to grants of lands, ordering, among 
others, one of ten thousand acres to Edward Eltonhead, 
* Bacon. f Bcztr.an, vol. 2, p. 554. 



^^^^•1 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 79 

doubtless a near kinsman of him who had suffered at Pro- 
vidence — containing also restrictions upon his powers, 
and subjecting him in their exercise to the advice and con- 
sent of Philip Calvert, or in case of his death, of Thomas 
Cornwallis, the early hero of the colony, its leader, and 
the steady friend at once of the Proprietary and the people. 
Barber immediately surrendered back his powers into the 
hands of Governor Fendall, the articles of agreement were 
publicly read, and a day appointed for the meeting of the 
rival authorities, at St. Leonard's Creek. On the 22d of 
March, both parties were assembled at the place designated, 
but the Puritans objected to a clause in the oath of fidelity, 
demanded a mutual indemnity for all past transactions, 
and requested that they might not be disarmed and left 
defenceless to the mercy of the Indians. Upon considera- 
tion, as far as regarded persons already in the province, the 
oath was modified, and the remaining demands conceded 
by the governor and council ; two days after, the amended 
agreement was solemnly adopted, Fendall's commission, 
as governor of Maryland, read and proclaimed, and writs 
issued for a General Assembly, to be held at St. Leonard's, 
on the 27th of April following.* 

Thus ended the ascendency of the Puritans, in Mary- 
land, which was once more peacefully restored to the 
government of the lord Proprietary, after nearly six years 
of successful rebellion, on the one part, and unceasing 
struorcrle on the other. It would seem as if a season of 
peace was now about to dawn upon the colony ; but no 
sooner had Governor Fendall overthrown the power of the 
Puritans, than he set about undermining that of the lord 
Proprietary. At the session of 1659, the House of Dele- 
gates, doubtless by his contrivance, demanded that the 
governor and council should no longer sit as an upper 
house, as they had done since the year 1649 — and claimed 
♦ Bozman, vol. 2, p. 562. 



so HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1659. 

for itself the rights of supreme judicial and legislative power 
For a decent time, Fendall made a show of resistance ; at 
length he yielded, and with two of his council took his seat 
in the lower house.* The upper house was then declared 
to be dissolved ; and Fendall, having resigned his commis- 
sion from the lord Proprietary into the hands of the Assem- 
bly, accepted from that body a new one in their own 
name and by their own authority. To secure obedience 
to this new and almost repubhcan government, an act 
was passed declaring it to be felony to disturb the existing 
order of things, and the people were commanded, by pro- 
clamation, to acknowledge no authority, except that which 
came immediately from the assembly, or from the king, 
who had now been restored to the throne of Enorland.t 
But the power of this new rebel was of short duration. 
The people were tired of intestine commotions, and looked 
back with regret to the mild and parental government of 
Leonard Calvert. They, therefore, joyfully submitted to 
Philip Calvert, whom Lord Baltimore appointed governor 
upon receiving the intelligence of Fendall's rebellion, and 
who appeared amongst them armed only with the procla- 
mation of the king, commanding all his faithful subjects to 
yield him obedience. Fendall gave himself up, and was 
respited by the governor from the punishment which he had 
merited, contrary to the express orders of Lord Baltimore. 
He only made use of his clemency to excite new troubles 
in after days. 

Of the precise object of Fendall's designs it is now diffi- 
cult to form an estimate. That they tended, almost, to 
republicanism, there can be no doubt : possibly, he hoped, 
by the overthrow of the power of Lord Baltimore, to secure 
to the legislature of the colony an entire supremacy, with 
a nominal subjection to the king. His chief associates 
were, Mr. Robert Slye, Speaker of the House, and Mr. Ge- 
* McMahon. t Bacon, 1658. 



1660.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 81 

rard, and Col. Nathaniel Utye, two members of his council, 
[t is not improbable that the idea of colonial independence 

already floated before their minds. 

Of Claiborne, the arch-disturber of the peace of Mary- 
land, little need be said. After this last overthrow of his 
long cherished schemes against the province of Maryland, 
he Abandoned all hope of a successful struggle with the 
power of his ancient enemies, the Calverts ; and retired 
into Virginia, where he settled in a county named New 
Kent, probably by himself, in remembrance of that beautiful 
island in the Chesapeake, in which the hopes of his turbu- 
lent and ambitious life had been centered, and for which 
he had contended so untiringly. He still continued a man 
of some distinction, and represented New Kent, in 1666, 
in the Virginia House of Delegates.* He met his death 
in battle with the Indians, at Moncock hills, and was buried 
upon the field.! 

* 2 Burke, 1-40. t B. U. Campbell's MSS. Notes. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE REVOLUTION OF 1689. 

1660 — 1715. 

After all these storms, at length a calm succeeded. 
For a long time the government remained fixed — and, 
under its gentle and benign influence, the colony increased 
in the number of its inhabitants, in its productions and its 
commerce, and enjoyed all those blessings which necessa- 
rily flow from peace and prosperity. 

For a period of thirty years, the steady stream of quiet 
advancement flowed on in Maryland, and, therefore, this 
portion of its records is more barren of notable events than 
even that which preceded it. At no time, in the early 
history of the State, were there great wars, civil or foreign, 
or extensive combinations among the Indian foes. There- 
fore, there were few sanguinary battles — few great and ter- 
rible crimes, or astounding calamities. Its civil wars were 
almost bloodless ; its Indian enemies were not more difficult 
to subdue than a mere band of robbers ; their depredations 
seldom exceeded a petty theft and an occasional murder, 
and a single company of men were generally sufficient to 
repel them. In the course often years of civil commotion, 
the largest force ever brought into the field, was not more 
than one-sixth of the enrolled men of the province, scarcely 
sufficient to form a full battalion of men at the present 
day. Therefore, it is not in these things, that the most 
interesting portion of Maryland's early history must be 
sought. Nor does the truest glory spring from these. The 
happiness of the people — peace at home and abroad — pub- 
lic virtue, and equal justice to all, are the purest and best 
titles of a nation, to the commendations of history and the 
admiration of posterity. g2 



1660.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 83 

The colony, again under a brother of its founder, having 
proclaimed Charles II king, set about legislating* to remedy 
the consequences of the late troubles and to increase its 
prosperity. A mint was established for coining shillings; 
port duties were laid and regulations for masters of ships 
adopted : taxes, at the rate of eighteen pounds of tobacco 
per head, were imposed for the proper maintenance of the 
government, and a special provision was made for soldiers 
wounded or disabled in the service of the colony. The 
mode of payment of port duties is worthy of notice, as in- 
dicating the wants of the times ; every vessel, having a flush 
deck fore and aft, coming to trade in the province, was 
required to pay one half pound of powder and three pounds 
of shot for every ton burthen. To insure the circulation 
of the new coinage, every householder was compelled to 
take from the mint ten shillings for each taxable in his 
family, for which he was to pay in tobacco, at the rate of 
two pence per pound. For nearly two years, the affairs of 
the province were prosperously conducted by Philip Cal- 
vert, when, in 1662, he was superseded by his nephew, the 
Hon. Charles Calvert, son of the lord Proprietary, and heir 
of the province. At the time Philip Calvert assumed the 
government of the colony, in 1660, its inhabitants numbered 
twelve thousand : and nothing evidences more strongly the 
excellence of his administration, and that of his nephew, 
than its rapid increase. In the space of five years, it had 
swelled to sixteen thousand souls — an increase of one- 
third ; and in 1671 to twenty thousand. As the population 
increased, it had been found necessary to enlarge the num- 
ber of counties, of which there were already seven — St. 
Mary's, founded in 1634 ; Kent, in 1650 ; Anne Arundel, 
1650; Calvert, 1654; Charles, 1658; Baltimore, 1659; and 
Talbot, 1660-61.1 As yet there were few towns: — indeed, 
the towns of early Maryland never reached any extensive 
* 1660— see Bacon. f McMahon ; Bacon. 



84 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1662-4. 

growth. St. Mary's contained but little more than fifty or 
sixty houses, and Providence, or Annapolis, was still smaller. 
The people were planters and farmers, and such occupa- 
tions are not favorable to the growth of towns. They 
obtained all their supplies of manufactured articles from the 
mother country, which thus monopolized their trade. The 
principal planters, found it convenient to make importations 
of large quantities of goods, which they stored away and 
which served, not only to supply their own demands, but 
also those of their neighbors. Thus, to a great extent, was 
the internal trade provided for, through St. Mary's. There 
was no manufacturing business to build up towns, and even 
the mechanics, whose trades were in most demand, were 
generally drawn by the convenience of their customers, 
from the towns, into the clusters of settlements in the in- 
terior. There was no influence, therefore, but that of the 
seat of government, calculated to foster and build up a city: 
and it was this alone that sustained St. Mary's. 

The first Assembly, which was called together by Charles 
Calvert, continued the spirit of improvement which had 
manifested itself under his uncle, the late governor. They 
directed a State house and prison — another evidence of the 
increasing wealth and growth of the colony — to be pur- 
chased: they declared the laws of England to be in force in 
the province, in proper cases, and where there was no spe- 
cial colonial legislation. The publication of marriages was 
provided for: and an inducement held out to farmers to raise 
English grain. As a tribute of gratitude and affection to the 
Calverts, they ordered a levy of twenty-five pounds of tobac- 
co per head, on every taxable for the use of the governor, 
Charles Calvert.* At the next session, in 1663-4, the As- 
sembly was still busied about the administration of their 
internal affairs and laying the foundations of much of the 
present systems of laws. They regulated the duties of 

* Bacon, 1662. 



1664.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND 85 

sheriffs, endeavored to establish rules for the conveyance 
of lands in the future, and to quiet their present possession, 
provided for the preservation of orphans' estate, the gene- 
ral administration of justice, the appointment of a public 
notary, the making of ferries, the erection of a magazine 
and the improvement of harbors ; and laid rules for the re- 
lation of master and slave, which had already sprung up in 
the colony.* Perhaps there could be no better picture of 
the condition of the settlement, the tendencies of its rulers, 
and the necessities of its people, than the simple enumera- 
tion of the laws which they found it convenient and proper 
to adopt. Indeed, during this long and peaceful period 
the history of the province is scarcely more than the recital 
of its domestic legislation, which is to be found more fully 
set forth in its statute books, than recorded in any history. 
The wisdom of these e?rly laws is proved by the fact, that 
many of them are still in force at this day — some amended, 
and the rest abrogated, or rendered obsolete, only by the 
changes of society and the fluctuations of time. They are 
landmarks of the progress of the colony. That relating to 
masters and slaves is worthy of further notice — it is the first 
evidence of the existence of slavery in Maryland. 

Of the exact date of the introduction of negro slavery 
into the colony there is no certainty — but it was probably 
at a very early period. It is said to have first appeared 
in Virginia, in 1620. A Dutch ship, perhaps intendmg to 
seek the Spanish islands, or hoping to find a more favorable 
market in the English settlements, touched at that colony, 
with a cargo of slaves, of whom twenty were bought by the 
Virginians. When the Indians, who were very numerous 
in the vicinity of the infant colony, "first beheld these 
black people, they thought them a true breed of devils, and 
therefore they called them, for a long time, 'Manitto' — a 
word signifying either God or Devil." "When the whites 

* Bacon, 1663-4. 
8 



86 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1663-71. 

first came," said an old Indian, long afterwards, delivering 
to the traveller the ancient tradition of his tribe, " our fathers 
believed they were surely gods, but the appearance, in their 
midst, of this new and, to them, hideous race, completely 
astonished them and confused their preconceived ideas of 
things."* The Virginians not only studiously kept these 
slaves in ignorance, but avoided teaching them Christianity: 
it was otherwise in Maryland. In 1663, for the first time, 
distinct mention is made oi negro slaves, in the laws of the 
colony, and it is evident, that there were already many in 
the province. Throughout the laws of Maryland, a strong 
distinction is constantly drawn between the terms ''servant" 
and " slave." Prior to the act of 1663, many laws were 
passed relating to the condition of servants and apprentices, 
but only once is used the word "slave," in the act of 1638, 
''for the liberties of the people," which describes "the 
people," as consisting of all Christian inhabitants, ^^ slaves 
only excepted"! — a term which is never, elsewhere, applied 
to any but negroes, and at present generally used to desig- 
nate slaves for life. As slavery existed in Virginia, even 
prior to the settlement of Maryland, it is probable that it 
was introduced gradually, as the increasing wealth of the 
settlers of the new colony enabled them to purchase slaves 
Only in 1671, however, an act was passed to encourage 
their importation. 

There was another species of servant in the colony, how- 
ever, of whom frequent mention is made, and who, in time 
became a large portion of the population. White emigrants, 
who were unable to bear the expenses of a voyage to the 
new world, or to maintain themselves upon their arrival, 
bound themselves to serve for a limited number of years, 
any one who would advance the necessary funds. In time 
this orew to a considerable trade. The indentures were 

* Kalm's Travels in North America, 1748. 

t Bacon, 1638 ; Holmes' Annals, vol. 1, p. 256. 



16G3.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 87 

made to the captain of the ship, or some other person, and, 
upon their arrival in the colony, their unexpired time was 
sold to the highest bidder, to whom their indentures were 
then transferred. In the early ages of the colony, they 
were called indented apprentices, afterwards the general 
term of " redemptioners" was applied to them. These, 
upon the expiration of their term of service, became useful 
citizens, and enjoyed the same franchises as their more 
fortunate masters. 

The very industry of the planters and the fer- Tobacco, 
tility of their soil, now brought unexpected difficulties, not 
only on Maryland, but also on the sister colonies of Virgi- 
nia and Carolina. At first the high price of tobacco had led 
the greater portion of the people to devote their attention to 
its cultivation, and a greatly increased production was the 
immediate consequence ; a fall in the price ensued, and a 
deterioration in the quality of the article, from careless 
culture, reduced its value so low, that the year's produce 
would scarcely supply clothes to the planters. A scarcity 
of corn was frequently felt, through the neglect to put out 
sufficient crops of that necessary grain, and the Assembly 
of Maryland frequently found it necessary to direct the 
attention of the planters to this subject, and to compel them, 
under severe penalties, to raise at least a certain proportion 
of maize in addition to their tobacco. 

In 1663, the evil had become so great, that the king him- 
self urged it upon the consideration of the colonies. There 
were only two remedies — a diminution of the quantity 
raised, or a cessation, for a time, of its cultivation. For 
either purpose, a joint action of the three colonies was 
required, and, accordingly, commissioners from Maryland 
and Virginia met at Wicomocomico, to arranore the basis for 
the necessary treaty. It was determined at this meeting, 
that in the succeeding year, after the twentieth of June, no 
tobacco should be planted in either colony, that the Assem- 



88 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1667. 

bly of Maryland should be called to ratify the agreement — 
and that the governors and councils of both colonies should 
solemnly swear to use their utmost efforts to have the laws 
for that purpose carried into eifect.* This scheme, how- 
ever, was not perfected until 1666, when the Assembly of 
Maryland passed an actf prohibiting the planting of tobacco 
throughout the province, for one year, from the 1st of Feb. 
1666, to the 1st Feb. 1667. Formal notice of this act, toge- 
ther with a copy of the governor's proclamation, was for- 
warded to Virginia by the chancellor, and the legislature 
of that colony immediately declared in force a similar 
measure, provisionally adopted by them at the preceding 
session. The lord Proprietary disapproved of the act of 
the Maryland Assembly, but his "disassent" was not signi- 
fied until the November following, when the law had alrea- 
dy produced the desired effect. 

The fame of the liberty, civil and religious, enjoyed in 
Maryland, had already gone abroad, carrying hope into the 
yearning hearts of those who wore the chain of despotism. 
Many, of different nations, sought an asylum in her bor- 
ders, and were admitted to the rights of citizenship. Thus, 
in 1666, an act was passed for the naturalization of several 
families from France, Spain, and Bohemia; and similar 
acts constantly recur in the proceedings of subsequent 
legislatures. t 

Here, too, the gentle Friends found peace and refuge. 
In England, in Virginia, in Massachusetts and the north, 
the pillory and the whipping post awaited them, and, almost 
in sight of Plymouth Rock, the gallows was erected for 
them. Every where, save in Maryland, their peacefulcreed 
was proscribed and punished as a crime. There, only, was 
their religious worship "held publicly and without interrup- 
tion.."§ For the government proscribed no one for his reli- 

* Burke's History of Virginia, vol. 2, p. 134. t Bacon. J lb 
§ Bancroft, vol. 2, p. 237. 



1652-75.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 89 

gion : and ample testimony is borne by Burke, the eloquent 
historian of Virginia, to the liberal and indulgent spirit in 
which they were received by the people of Maryland, and 
"hailed as brothers, and admitted to all the rights of freemen." 
The members of the colonial legislature and the council,, 
many persons of quality, and justices of the peace, came to- 
gether to listen to the preaching of George Fox, the zealous 
leader of the Quakers, while he tarried in Maryland.* The 
emperor of the Nanticokes, attended by his subject kings 
and their subordinate chiefs, gathered around him, on the 
Eastern shore, to hear his words. The heir of the province, 
himself at a later day, to countenance the spirit of civil 
concord, was present at one of their assemblies. For a time, 
however, they were involved in difficulties with the govern- 
ment from their refusal to perform military duty and their 
rejection of oaths; but at a later period, they were entirely 
relieved from these trammels, and then, indeed, Maryland 
was to them "the land of the sanctuary." 

From the date of the treaty with the Susque- Indian War. 
hannahs, in 1652, the frontiers of the settlements had been 
but little molested by the incursions of the natives. The 
Susquehannahs, once so powerful, had begun to give place 
to the Senecas of the five nations of New York, who pene- 
trated through the province of Pennsylvania, conquering, 
and driving before them, the Indian inhabitants, and molest- 
inor the white settlers. Occasional bodies of these darinsr 
marauders struck upon the frontiers of Maryland ; and it 
was found necessary, for a time, to maintain a body of 
rangers, under Captain John Allen, for their protection. 
In the summer of 1675, a number of murders and outrages 
had been committed on the people of Virginia and Mary- 
land, along the Potomac, by a band of savages ; and suspi- 
cion fell upon the Susquehannahs. A joint expedition was 
sent by the two provinces to chastise them. The Virginia 
* 1666. Bancroft. 
8* M 



90 HISTORY or MARYLAND. [1675. 

forces were under the command of Colonel Washington — 
those of Maryland under Major Trueman. On Monday, 
the 25th of September, the Maryland troops appeared be- 
fore a fort of the Piscataways, then held by the Susquehan- 
nahs, and were met by a deputation of their chiefs, who 
laid the blame of the inroad upon the Senecas, who, they 
said, were by that time at the head of the Patapsco river 
on their return. 

On the next morning. Col. Washington, Col. Mason and 
Major Adderton of the Virginia troops, joined Major True- 
man, and were visited by the same deputation. They at 
once charged upon these Indians the murders which had 
been committed; thereupon Maj. Trueman, yielding to their 
advice, caused five of the chiefs to be bound, and afterwards 
put to death. They continued to affirm their innocence — 
and displayed, in the vain hope of securing their safety, 
a silver medal and some papers, which had been given thetn 
by former governors of Maryland, in token of amity, and 
as an assurance of protection. This severe proceeding 
attracted the indignation of the House of Delegates, and 
an inquiry was set on foot. Major Trueman was impeached, 
before the upper House, for the murder of the five Indian 
chiefs, who had come into his camp in the guise of en- 
voys, pleaded guilty, and a bill of attainder was brought in 
against him. He, however, set forth such extenuating cir- 
cumstances, that the House refused to pass sentence of 
death upon him, and, a dispute arising between the two 
houses, as to their respective powers in the matter, he 
escaped the penalty of his rashness and inhumanity.* But 
the importance given to the affair, proves, at least, the strict 
justice of the people of Maryland in their intercourse with 
the natives, and the horror with which a breach of faith 
towards them, was viewed — a feeling little shared by any 
other colony of the old thirteen. 

* Annals of Annapolis, pp. 70-72. 



1671-6.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 91 

Charles Calvert continued to act as governor, until the 
death of his father, on the 30th of November, 1675, by 
which event he became himself the lord Proprietary of the 
province Intending to return to England as soon as pos- 
sible, he convened an Assembly, for the purpose of reduc- 
ing to some method the laws heretofore passed, to many 
of which his father had not given his assent. ''A general 
revision took place ; and those laws, which were thought 
proper to be continued, were definitely ascertained."* 
During his administration as governor, the Assembly had 
effected many improvements — caused roads to be made, 
court houses and jails to be erected, coroners appointed 
in all the counties, extended the facilities of obtaining 
justice, and provided for the publication of the laws within 
the province, by proclamation by the sheriff in the county 
courts. Tn 1671, the Assembly granted to Lord Baltimore 
a duty of two shillings per hundred weight on all tobacco 
exported from Maryland ; one half of the proceeds were to 
be applied to the defence of the province, the other for his 
own benefit, to repay, in some measure, his great expendi- 
ture in establishing the colony, which was estimated to have 
exceeded forty thousand pounds sterling in the two first 
years. Out of this grant, great difficulties afterwards arose. 
Having thus reformed the system of laws, and believing 
his presence no longer necessary in the province, the lord 
Proprietary appointed Thomas Notely, Esq., deputy gover- 
nor, during his absence, to act in the name of his infant 
son Cecil Calvert, as nominal governor, and returned to 
England in the year 1676. Upon his arrival, he found that 
complaints had been made against his government by sev- 
eral colonial clergymen, who represented the province as 
in a frightful condition, and proposed, as a remedy, that 
a support should be provided for them by law.f They in- 
veighed against him, because the Catholic priests held 
* McMahon, pp, 215. t Ihid. 216. 



92 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1677. 

landed estates in the colony for their support. Lord Bal- 
timore simply pointed to the laws of his province, tolerating 
all and establishing none, and to the conditions of planta- 
tion, under which these lands had been acquired. He was 
advised by the committee of trade and the plantations, to 
whom the matter was referred, to provide a public support 
for the clergy of the church of England,* he declined, and 
thus ended the first effort to create an established church, 
by law in Maryland. Virginia had charged his government 
with not assisting in the defence of the frontiers — this com- 
plaint was also declared to be groundless; and Lord Balti- 
more, having triumphed over the enemies of his province, 
returned to Maryland in 1680, and once more assumed the 
government into his own hands. During his absence, a 
singular case had been brought before the General Assem- 
bly for trial : A physician named Edward Husbands was 
charged with attempting to poison the governor and the 
two houses. He met the charge with great warmth, and 
was sentenced to be for ever disabled from practising as a 
surgeon, and to receive twenty lashes on the bare back for 
cursing the Assembly; and bound over to appear before the 
provincial court, to answer the charge of attempting to 
poison. It is probable that Lord Baltimore, on his return^ 
stayed these arbitrary proceedings, as he dissented! from 
every act passed during that year, and no further mention 
is made of Husbands or his supposed offence. 

In the following year, Fendall, already once taken in 
rebellion and spared by Philip Calvert, still revolving his 
restless projects, attempted, in conjunction with another 
restless spirit named Coode, to excite a rebellion among 
the people — they failed, and were arrested, tried and con- 
victed — but escaped with their lives, again to disturb the 
peace of the province. For four years the Proprietary con- 
tinued to govern the colony in person, when, in 1684, the 
*■ McMahon ; Bancroft, vol. 2, p. 242. f Bacon, 1674. 



1GS4.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 93 

complexion of affairs in England seeming to demand his 
presence there, he appointed a council of nine deputies, of 
whom William Joseph was president, to direct the affairs 
of the province, under the nominal governorship of his 
infant son, Benedict Leonard Calvert; and departed from 
the colony, little imagining that he was about to bid adieu 
to it for ever. The tendency of political contests in Eng- 
land had assumed a religious aspect, and threatened to in- 
volve him and his friends in difficulty. This feeling was not 
long in spreading to the province, and promised to be a 
fruitful source of disquietude. The growing wealth and 
importance of Maryland, too, had excited the avarice of 
King Charles, who bep-an to entertain designs against its 
charter, and threatened Lord Baltimore with a writ of quo 
warranto. When he reached England, he found James II 
on the throne, and his province in greater peril than before. 
From the king, and from the enemies of the king, there- 
fore, danger alike impended. At length, in April, 1687, 
the writ of quo warranto was issued, requiring him to show 
cause, why the charter should not be forfeited. But before 
the proceedings could be brought to a termination, the 
king himself was deposed and driven out of England by 
the revolution of 1688. While the charter was thus saved 
by the destruction of the king, the rights of the lord Pro- 
prietary were overthrown by an uprising of the people ; 
for events, in Maryland, were bringing to a close the long 
period of repose and toleration enjoyed under the mild 
administration of the second lord Proprietary, and the dis- 
sensions, excited by the troubles in the mother country, 
and nourished by a sympathizing spirit of intolerance in the 
colony, at length broke out into open revolution. 

For thirty years, religious freedom had pre- Revolution 
vailed in Maryland : all were tolerated, none were 
favored or preferred. Never, until the last few years, had 
any distinction been made for religious creeds, and then, 



94 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1C89. 

only, because Lord Baltimore was compelled, by order of 
the king, to select his officers entirely from the Protestant 
inhabitants of the colony. The feeling which caused the 
revolution in England, did not fail, now, to extend its effects 
to Maryland. The lord Proprietary, upon the success 
of the revolution in England, immediately gave in his 
adherence to William and Mary, and transmitted orders to 
his deputies to have their accession to the throne pro- 
claimed in the province. Unfortunately, these instructions 
did not arrive in due time, and, even after the new sove- 
reiorns had been acknowledored in the surroundinof colonies, 
the authorities hesitated to act until they should receive 
directions from the lord Proprietary. The ill-will of the 
people had already been excited against the deputies, for 
an attempt to infringe upon the rights of the Assembly, and 
every measure which they now adopted, viewed through the 
prevailing prejudice, tended only to strengthen suspicion 
and confirm opposition. The settlements were filled with 
rumors of a dangerous character. The deputies sought to 
stop their circulation — they only increased ten-fold. The 
public arms were collected, in fear of a general outbreak; 
and the fear itself prepared the people for the event. At 
length, the unfortunate delay to proclaim William and Ma- 
ry, brought aff'airs to a crisis. 

In April, 1689, '■'■An association in arms for the defence 
of the Protestant religion, and for asserting the rights of 
King William and Queen Mary to the province of Maryland, 
and all the English dominions,'' was formed, at the head of 
which was John Coode, who had already been once guilty 
of treason and rebellion. The deputies were driven, for 
protection, to the garrison of Mattapany, which was imme- 
diately besieged, and compelled to surrender in August 
following, leaving the associators in undisputed possession 
of the province. The character of the leader of the rebel- 
Hon may, perhaps, cast a light upon their professions of 



1CS9.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 95 

• 

devotion to religion and of loyalty to the king. Coode was 
a man of loose morals and desperate habits : assuming to be 
in orders, he was yet so depraved, that he was presented, 
by the grand jury, under the government which he was 
now foremost in establishing, for atheism and blasphemy. 
To escape a trial he fled into Virginia, whence he frequent- 
ly came back, in secret, into the province, declaring that, 
as he had overthrown one government, he would pull down 
another. His attempts, however, failed, and he was at last 
taken, tried, and convicted, but pardoned, in consideration 
of the services he had rendered during the revolution 
of '89.* 

The first act of the associators, after their sue- convention 
cess, was to call a convention of the people, ° ^ ^^°^ ^' 
which met at St. Mary's on the 23d of August, 1689. 
They drew up, and forwarded to tha king, an account of 
their proceedings, filled with accusations against Lord Bal- 
timore and his government, which posterity has pronounced 
unjust. The king sustained the acts of a revolution, which 
was only a continuation of that which had placed him upon 
the throne ; and the province, for a time, continued under 
the administration of the convention. Anxious, however, 
to Fecure the domination of their party, under the name of 
the king, they requested him to take the government of the 
colony into his own hands; and, in 1691, he accordingly 
appointed Sir Lionel Copley governor. 

Sir Lionel, the first royal governor of the province, arrived 
in Maryland in the ensuing year, and, on the 9th of April, 
he dissolved the convention, and summoned a General 
Assembly, which met on the 10th of May, 1692, (0. S.) at 
the city of St. Mary's. Their first act was the recognition 
of William and Mary ; their next the overthrow of equal 
toleration, and the establishment of the church of England, 
as the State church of Maryland. " Thus," says McMahon, 
* McMahon, 239. 



96 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1702-4. 

" was introduced, for the first time in Maryland, a church 
establishment, sustained by law, and fed by general taxa- 
tion."* But matters did not rest here : the legislature pro- 
ceeded to pass a series of acts of an oppressive character, 
against all who differed from the creed of the dominant 
party. These laws were however in time modified or re- 
pealed, though some of the obnoxious restrictions continued 
to exist until the revolution of 1776, when, in the general 
emancipation, which that glorious struggle secured, reli- 
gious liberty again became the noble heritage of Maryland. 

The Assembly next endeavored to deprive the Proprietary 
of his personal rights in the province. He was still enti- 
tled to all the unsettled lands, with the right of making 
grants of them, to the quit rents, and certain duties or 
imposts, not connected with the government. Amongst 
these was the port duty, and the duty of two shillings per 
hundred on all tobacco exported from the colony. The 
convention disputed his claims: and the king, being ap- 
pealed to by Lord Baltimore, issued a royal letter autho- 
rizing him to collect his revenues in the province ; but the 
convention refused to submit. They threw his agents into 
prison. Upon taking possession of his government, Sir 
Lionel Copley was directed by the king to protect the rights 
of Lord Baltimore and ensure the collection of his dues. 
Darnall, the receiver-general of the Proprietary, however, 
still met with opposition, and it was not till the matter was 
expressly decided by the king and council in favor of Lord 
Baltimore, that the Assembly yielded up to him his port 
and tonnage duties, and entered into a compromise in rela- 
tion to the issuing of land patents, t • 

From the Proprietary, the Assembly turned to the old 

city of St. Mary's. In that portion of the province, his 

firmest supporters principally dwelt : they had adhered to 

the Proprietary in all his struggles, and the Assembly deter- 

* McMahon, 243. f Ibid., 247. 



1669-94.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 97 

mined to punish them by removing the seat of government 
from their capital. There was another reason, which neces- 
sarily must have had great weight in producing the change. 
The settlements had extended far into the interior, and 
along the shores of the bay : St. Mary's was on the verge 
of the colony, and was difficult of access to the members 
of the leo-islature, and those who had business before that 
body and the courts. In vain St. Mary's prayed and pro- 
tested; her existence depended upon the possession of the 
seat of government, and her authorities offered to provide 
a public conveyance to run from Patuxent, daily, during the 
sessions of the Assembly and the courts, and, weekly, for 
the rest of the year. The Assembly rejected their prayers, 
and laughed at their proposals; and the seat of government 
was removed to " the townland at Proctor's," or Providence, 
which was thenceforth called Annapolis. St. Mary's began 
to sink at once, for the removal of the government officials 
was a sensible diminution in so small a place ; soon it lost 
the rank of a city — its population dwindled away — its 
houses fell to ruin. At lenorth it became deserted — and 
" in the very State to which it gave birth, and the land it 
redeemed from the wilderness, it now stands a solitary spot 
dedicated to God, and a fit memento of perishable man."* 
Yet, in its ruin, it is a holy place, sacred to the proudest 
memories of Maryland^for it was the cradle of her free- 
dom of conscience and her civil liberty. Its successor, 
rising upon its ruin, and mocking its destruction, has to a 
certain extent shared its /ate. It has become dependent 
for its- existence upon the seat of government, and the sug- 
gestion of its removal or the transfer of the sessions of the 
court of appeals, calls forth at once the same feelings, that 
were exhibited by the unfortunate city of St. Mary's.f No 

* McMahon, 253-5, 

t Witness the debate in 1847, upon the resolution to remove certain 

documents to the rooms of ihe Historical Society, Baltimore, from 

Aimapolis. ^ ,._ 

^ 9 N 



08 



HISTORY or MARYLAND. [1694. 



effort was spared to secure the growtn of the new town; a 
portion of the population of the old, doubtless, followed 
the government at once to Annapolis, which, in 1708, was 
raised to the rank of a city, as the ancient capital was sink- 
ing down into a deserted village. Four or five years after 
the removal, it contained about forty houses — a State house 
and free school of brick, and a brick church was soon after 
erected. 

A controversy arose about the incorporation of Annapo- 
lis, in which the Assembly displayed their usual firmness. 
Governor Seymour, having failed to obtain from them a 
charter for the new city, in 1708 granted one in his own 
name, claiming the power under the great charter of Mary- 
land, which, undoubtedly, was possessed by the Proprietary 
under that instrument, but could, in no manner, appertain 
to a royal governor who ruled in defiance of its provisions. 
An election was, accordingly held in the new city for two 
delegates to represent it in the approaching Assembly. At 
the opening of the session, these deputies attempted to 
take their seats — but were immediately expelled from the 
House, on the ground that the charter had been illegally 
granted. The lower house was summoned before the upper 
by the governor, Avho there endeavored to conciliate them. 
But they were inilexible ; and the governor dissolved them. 
A new Assembly was called : but their first act was to 
demand, whether the governor had received any authority 
from the queen, other than his commission, to erect a city, 
and to call for its exhibition. At length a compromise 
was effected, and the Assembly passed an act to confirm 
the charter with certain specified restrictions.* 

In 1691, Sir Lionel Copley was succeeded by Francis 
Nicholson, who was principally active in securing the suc- 
cess of the established church, and promoting the cause 
of education. He was first commissioned in 1691, but 
* McMahon, 255 ; Annals. 



1G9).] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 99 

being then absent in England, on the death of Copley, the 
government was assumed by Sir Edmond Andros, and ex- 
ercised by him until the arrival of Nicholson in 1694. 

The French war had already broken out on the frontiers 
of the northern colonies, and, the growth and strength of 
Maryland and Virginia, induced the royal governors to seek 
assistance from these colonies. This led to the famous 
scheme of "crown requisitions," by which each colony was 
required to furnish certain proportions of men and money to 
aid in the defence of New York, the chief point of assault. 
The people of Maryland generally disregarded, or disobey- 
ed, these demands: — which were only, in effect, an indirect 
mode of taxing them without their own consent, and an 
attempted introduction of that principle, which eventually 
brought on the revolution of 1776. Sometimes, however, 
when the danger was pressing, they furnished the assist- 
ance required — on one occasion, being unable to raise the 
sum demanded, 133/., it was advanced by Governor Nichol- 
son himself. Thomas Tasker, the treasurer of the State, 
was subsequently despatched with another sum to New 
York, with instructions to represent the difficulty with 
which the money had been raised, the inability of the people 
to meet further demands upon them, and the necessity of 
providing for the defence of their own border. Yet, in the 
next century, this system, continued for a long time, was 
productive of a great good. It taught the colonists to rely 
on their own resources, to know their extent, how to hus- 
band them, and the great power which they possessed when 
combined together. During the government of Nicholson, 
several beneficial improvements were effected. In 1695, a 
public post was established : the route extended from the 
Potomac, through Annapolis, to Philadelphia. A number 
of offices were designated on the route ; and the post-man 
was required to traverse it eight times a year, — to carry all 
public messages, and to deliver letters and packages for the 



100 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [16J2. 

inhabitants, for which services he received the salary of fifty 
pounds sterling a year. This rude system was only sustain- 
ed for three years. In 1710 the English government found 
it necessary to establish a general post throughout the 
colonies. 

Public Schools. As yet no effort had been made to form 
public academies, and the legislature, in 1692, passed an 
act for the encouragrement of learning, under which schools 
were established, and part of a tax of fourpence per gallon 
on all liquors imported into the province, applied to their 
support. Four years later, finding a more extensive sys- 
tem required, the assembly passed a bill, by which trustees 
to act with others, to be named by King William, in the 
establishment of academies, were appointed under the titles 
of " the rectors, governors and visitors of the free schools 
of Maryland." The course of instruction proposed, em- 
braced Greek, Latin, writing, and the usual branches of an 
English education. King William's school, of Annapolis, 
was first established ; its officers were a master, usher and 
writing master. Subscriptions were taken for its support, 
and a part of the royal revenues applied to the formation 
of a library for its use. The trustees were directed, as 
soon as the condition of their funds permitted them, to 
form a similar school in each county in the province. In 
1704, additional imposts were levied for this academy, but 
no other institutions were erected until 1732, when the 
assembly, anxious to carry the original design into effect, 
appointed seven trustees for every county, directed them 
to purchase one hundred acres of land for the site of each 
county academy, and divided the school fund equally be- 
tween them. One-half of the land thus purchased was 
directed to be cleared for farming, for the use of the mas- 
ter ; and buildings were to be erected for his dwelling and 
the reception of the scholars. 



1704-6.] HISTORY OP MARYLAND. 101 

As new counties were laid out, the system was extended 
to them ; but at length experience proved that the number 
of the schools was too large to secure to them that patron- 
age necessary for their proper support ; and in 1770, seve- 
ral were consolidated together. Some of these academies 
are still in existence, somewhat modified by subsequent 
legislation. Such was the system of colonial education 
adopted in Maryland. It was well suited in some of its 
features for the condition of the province, but its exclusive 
nature retarded its complete developement. 

In 1704, the State House was destroyed by fire, and the 
legislature appropriated the sum of one thousand pounds 
sterlinor for the erection of a new one, holdinor their sessions 
in the mean while in a house rented at twenty pounds a 
year, from Col. Edward Dorsey. The new building was 
of brick, and was finished in 1706. In the conflagration, 
many of the records of Anne Arundel county were destroy- 
ed, and a special commission was appointed to hear and 
determine all disputes concerning land, in order to remedy 
the loss. Their decisions, upon all matters brought before 
them, were recorded, and form a portion of the land records 
of the county.* 

During the twenty-five years of royal dominion in Mary- 
land, there is little remarkable in its history, beyond the 
boundary disputes, and the encroachments which the crown 
was already beginning to make, upon the liberties of the 
people. While the colony was poor and weak, it was per- 
mitted to struggle on, fostered by the lord Proprietary, but 
neglected by the crown : no sooner had it become rich and 
populous than the cupidity of England was aroused. The 
government had already been wrested from its rightful 
owner, — ^but nothing less would serve her rapacity than the 
destruction of the charter, and the reduction of Maryland 
under the complete control of the British parliament. Nor 
_^ * Bacon, 1705, ch. 3. 



102 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [^"'^1 15. 

was it the only victim : the design extended to the other colo- 
nies — one government was to be erected on the ruins of their 
provincial establishments, and a royal commissioner placed 
at its head. In 1701, a bill was introduced into parliament 
for the destruction of the charters of Massachusetts, New 
Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, the Jerseys, Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland, and the Bahama islands, and to sustain 
it, an effort was made to obtain evidence from the colonies 
against their present systems. An order was addressed to 
the governor of Maryland to collect testimony concerning 
the abuses of the lord Proprietary's government, but the 
insignificance of the charges which were gathered, proved 
the justice of his administration and the opposition of the 
people to the proposed change. They, however, did not 
hesitate to allege that their neighbor, Pennsylvania, was 
a mere receptacle of runaway slaves, and Jersey, the resort 
of pirates. The agents of the several colonies were heard 
against the measure before parliament, and, so successful 
was their defence, that, although it was favored by the 
crown, it could not be carried through. The ministry, 
however, did not despair. In 1715, when the government 
was surrendered once more to Lord Baltimore, another 
effort was made against the charters : again the colonies 
united in protesting and remonstrating against the injustice ; 
and again their united energies preserved for them the con- 
stitutions which they loved.* In these petty struggles, was 
planted the germ of that which led to the independence of 
the nation. In them, the colonies learned — that in ''union 
there was strength." Their stormy infancy prepared them 
for a vigorous and unconquerable manhood. 

Whilst the consequences of the royal government were 
beneficial in this point of view, it tended rather to restrain 
the internal progress of the colony. In 1671, its popula- 
tion had already risen to nearly twenty thousand : at the 

* McMahon, 272. 



1715.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 103 

close of the royal domination, forty-four years after, it had 
only reached fifty* thousand— a large portion of which in- 
crease must be set down to the period before the revolution 
o^ 1688-9. After that event, the same inducements for 
emigration no longer existed— while there were causes 
which operated to prevent the emigrant from casting his 
lot within the borders of Maryland ; universal toleration 
had ceased; lands were no longer given as a bounty; 
and the fluctuations of the tobacco trade, and the distress 
occasioned by the neglect of other agricultural pursuits, 
not only discouraged the arrival of new settlers, but induced 
the departure of many of the old inhabitants, to seek a 
home in some more prosperous land. To add to these 
misfortunes, in 1694-5, an unusual scarcity prevailed, and 
a destructive disease made its appearance among the stock 
of the farmers and planters. In those two years, it was 
ascertained that at least 25,429 cattle and 62,375 hogs 
were destroyed by this plague, though its ravages are sup- 
posed to have extended even beyond these large numbers. 
Such an event was a heavy blow upon the colony, and the 
aggregate value of the property thus lost, must have been 
severely felt in so small a community. But their misfor- 
tunes did not stop here- two years later, a violent and 
raging mortality suddenly made its appearance among the 
pe^ople of Charles county, which caused much suffering 
amopff the inhabitants. 

Heretofore the colonists had been without manufactures 
of their own, relying entirely upon the mother country for 
their supply : but in 1697, urged by the difficulty of pro- 
curing goods from England, an effort was set on foot in 
Somerset and Dorchester counties, to make woollen and 
linen cloths : but every attempt of this kind was closely 
watched and suppressed by the British government, which 
wished to compel them to consume the manufactures of 

* Chalmers. 



104 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1715. 

their own people, as a source of profit and a means of secur- 
ing their dependence upon them. Therefore, these efforts 
to supply a domestic manufacture, either failed at once, or 
languished out a sickly existence. Indeed, during ihe 
administration of the six royal governors^ Copley, Andros, 
Nicholson, Blackistone, Seymour, and Hart, the hand of 
the crown seemed to weigh like an incubus upon the pros- 
perity of Maryland. Extending through one quarter of a 
century, it was yet a period of inaction, during which the 
limits of the settlements were but little advanced — the 
number of the population but feebly increased ; and the 
amount of foreign trade and domestic resources, if not 
diminished, at best only remaining stationary. While on 
the other hand, religious liberty had taken its flight from the 
province ; and with the overthrow of equal toleration, and 
the establishment of a church, by law, which embraced 
perhaps less than half the population of the colony, was 
destroyed that true civil freedom which cannot exist for the 
body while the spirit is enchained. But the cause of the 
royal dominion was about to be removed. Charles, Lord 
Baltimore, at length having reached the mature age of 
eighty-four years, expired on the 20th of February, 1714, 
full of honor and of days. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE RESTORATION OF THE PROVINCE. 
• 1715 — 1751, 

U PON the decease of the lord Proprietary, his title and 
his province descended together to his son, Benedict Leo- 
nard Calvert. Seduced by ambition and the efforts of the 
Queen of England ;* and sustained against his father's 
opposition by a royal pension, he had abandoned his faith 
to advance his fortunes ; he only lived long enough to be 
acknowledged lord Proprietary. By his death, on the 16th 
of April, 1715, the title to the province devolved upon his 
infant heir, Charles Calvert, who, with his brothers and 
sisters, was educated in the Protestant religion. There 
being no longer any obstacle on the score of religion, the 
government of the province was restored to him, and a 
commission issued in his name by Lord Guilford, his guar- 
dian, to Hart, the last royal governor, continuing him as 
the representative of the Proprietary. The restoration 
produced but little change in the province. Scarcely, 
however, had it been consummated, before the second 
attempt against the charters of the several colonies was 
made in parliament. A petition was immediately pre- 
sented, in the name of the youthful Lord Baltimore, stating 
that he, and his brothers and sisters were Protestants, and 
that, upon their revenues from Maryland, they depended 
for their support, and praying that his province might be 
spared. The other colonies resisted, and successfully, as 
has already been detailed, and the project was abandoned. 
The stru'r-'ies T^^G first legislature, which assembled under 
of democracy, ^j^^ ^^^^ Proprietary, passed a body of laws, still 
further strengthening the groundwork of their liberties, 

* Chal. 2, 67. 

O 105 



106 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1715-51. 

many of which are in force at this day : but there was one 
act of a contrary tendency, which the great Revolution 
abrogated. It introduced into Maryland all the test oaths 
and disabilities which were enforced against conscience in 
England. 

For a period of forty years, the colony enjoyed almost 
undisturbed tranquillity. It had no greater troubles than 
contests between the governor and council, who formed the 
upper house, and the delegates of the people in the lower : 
and its only warlike expeditions consisted of aids of men 
which it occasionally gave to assist the northern provinces. 
The first controversy arose about the extension of the laws 
of England to the colony. The Proprietary desired to limit 
their introduction, as interferinor with his own leirislative 
rights, as vvell as those of the people : while the people 
themselves demanded the adoption of all such laws as 
might be beneficial to them, or which might tend in any 
way to extend or secure their rights. A war of petitions 
and protests, resolutions, dissents, addresses and proclama- 
tions, ensued. During ten years the struggle continued, 
and the sturdy commoners did not cease their eff*orts, until, 
in 1732, they had grasped the substance of their demands. 
The next step in the war of freedom — for the war of free- 
dom commenced in Maryland, long before recourse was 
had to arms, and the victory upon the battle field was only 
the final confirmation of the riorhts which had been main- 
tained and enlarged for a century before — was in relation 
to the revenues of the Proprietary. 

In 1739, the Assembly resolved that the duties levied by 
the Proprietary were unjust and oppressive : and protested 
against the settling of officers fees by proclamation by the 
governor, and the creation of new offices, with new fees, 
without the consent of the Assembly. They passed a bill 
for the appointment of an agent in London to carry their 
grievances before the crown. It was rejected by the upper 



1715-51.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 107 

house. Determined not to be silenced, the lower house 
selected a committee of their own body to perform the 
same duty, at the same time, authorizing them to employ 
an agent in London in its execution, thus avoiding the 
possible interference of the upper house. But the govern- 
or's party fell upon a scheme to counteract this design. 
The Assembly was prorogued : and it was immediately 
contended, that the power of the committee ceased with 
the existence of the body from which it was derived, and 
of which the committee itself was part. Baffled for the 
time, the popular party did not cease their exertions : and 
at the opening of the next session of 1740, they renewed 
their opposition. They were in part successful — and ob- 
tained the riffht of full access to the records which had 
been before denied them — appointed their agent and sent 
him full instructions and testimony to sustain his applica- 
tions.* Some of their demands were granted — but the 
tonnage and tobacco duties continued a standing subject 
of complaint and resistance, until the "great struggle" 
closed all controversies and removed all grievances. 
The Indians. From the earliest period, the government of the 
colony had pursued the peaceful and just policy of extin- 
guishing by purchase the title of the Indians to the lands 
within the limits of the province. Where the affection of the 
natives for the graves of their fathers proved stronger than 
their cupidity, they were permitted to remain, and protected 
in the unmolested enjoyment of their hunting grounds. 
Thus, in 1698, an act was passed, and renewed in 1704, to 
assure to Panquash and Annotoughquan, two kings of the 
Nanticokes, and their subjects, the possession of their lands 
in Dorchester county, "it being most just," says this equita- 
ble law, " that the Indians, the ancient inhabitants of this 
province, should have a convenient dwelling place, in this 
their native country, free from the encroachments and op- 

* McMahon, 283. 



108 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1715-51, 

pressions of the English; especially the Nanticoke Indians, 
in Dorchester county, who for these many years have lived 
in peace and concord with the English, and, in all matters, 
in obedience to the government of this province."* As an 
acknowledgment of the authority of Lord Baltimore, they 
were required to pay him, annually, the nominal tribute of 
a single beaver skin. Thus it appears that even the warlike 
Nanticokes had yielded to the mild influence of the colo- 
nial government, and become peaceful dwellers under its 
protection. But the red man cannot long remain in the 
vicinity of the white. By degrees they began to remove, 
and in 1748, the great body of them departed from the 
Eastern shore to Wyoming and Chemenk, carrying with 
them the disinhumed bones of their fathers, to deposite 
them in other graves in their new settlements.! Before 
their final departure, however, their friendly relations with 
the whites appear to have been somewhat disturbed. Pro- 
bably instigated by the Senecas, they entered into a con- 
spiracy with them to rise and massacre the settlers. This 
attempt arose out of the dissatisfaction of the Senecas at 
the failure of a claim which the Six Nations had made, to 
the lands west of the Susquehannah, in Pennsylvania and 
Maryland. It was discovered by the governor of Pennsyl- 
vania, and by him communicated to the authorities of Ma- 
ryland, who promptly placed the frontiers in a state of 
defence. t The alarm which had been excited in the colony 
by this unexpected, and probably exaggerated aff'air, soon 
subsided; but it served to warn the government to adhere 
to its early policy. 

The tribes of the Six Nations were the most powerful 
confederacy of Indians on the continent, and, to prevent 
any further difficulty with them, it was determined to extin- 
guish their claims to territory in Maryland by purchase. 

* Bacon, 1704, ch. 58. f Holmes' Annals, vol. 2, p. 37— note. 
X Burke, vol. 3, p. 106 



1715-51.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 109 

The governor recommended this subject for the considera- 
tion of the Assembly, at the session of 1742. They con- 
curred in his views ; but a contest immediately arose, as to 
the power of appointing commissioners to effect the pro- 
posed arrangement. The Assembly asserted their right to 
select a portion, and named Dr. Robert King and Charles 
Carroll, to act in conjunction with those appointed by the 
governor, and laid down certain instructions for the guid- 
ance of their conduct. Governor Bladen considered this 
as an usurpation of his powers, and refused to confirm their 
proceedings. The House remained firm, and the negotia- 
tion was suspended. Having failed to bring his opponents 
to subjection, Gov. Bladen at length, in 1744, appointed 
commissioners, on his own responsibility, without reference 
to the action of the Assembly ; and a treaty was concluded 
by them* with the Six Nations, in conjunction with the 
representatives of Virginia and Pennsylvania, at Lancaster, 
in Pennsylvania; whereby, in consideration of the payment 
of three hundred pounds current money, they agreed to 
relinquish all claim to any territory within the boundaries 
of Maryland. 

Internal im- The building of towns and cities was a favorite 
provemeiits. project in early Maryland. A number were made 
by acts of Assembly,* though few of them ever grew to 
any importance. In 1729, Baltimore the great emporium 
of the State, was first laid out on the lands of Charles Car- 
roll, in sixty lots by commissioners appointed by the legis- 
lature; and in 1732, it was increased by an addition of ten 
acres, east of the falls, on the lands of Edward Fell, whence 
the name of Fell's Point, still retained by that portion of 
the city. The advantages, which it possessed in a commer- 
cial point of view, soon began to draw population and fix 
enterprize: and while the countless other towns erected by 
the legislature, covering almost the entire bay and rivers' 
* Bacon, 1683, ch. 5; 16S4, ch. 2; 1688; 1716, ch. 14, &c. 
10 



110 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1715-51. 

shores, either remained unsettled or soon died away, it 
grew and flourished. For a time, the town at Elkridge 
landing contended with it for the commerce of the northern 
part of the colony, and was a great tobacco mart : but the 
superior advantages of Baltimore soon enabled it to surpass 
its rival. In the meanwhile, Annapolis had continued to 
increase, and beinof the seat of a rich and aristocratic gfov- 
ernment, drew around it the wealth and fashion of the 
province. There, the elegant arts found patronage, and 
literature began to spring up. As a testimony of its ad- 
vancement, it could boast in 1745 the earliest and long the 
only newspaper printed in the colony. The first number 
of the "Maryland Gazette," for that was its name, was 
issued on the 27th of January, 1745, by Jonas Green, who 
had been appointed printer to the province in 1740. This 
ancient paper continued to be published by the descend- 
ants of its founder until 1839, in which year it was at 
length discontinued. A printing press, however, had been 
established in the colony as early as 1726, for the purpose 
of printing the laws and public documents, which, prior to 
that date, had been done at Philadelphia, by William Brad- 
ford.* The wealth of Annapolis is still evidenced by many 
of its venerable dwellings, bearing the mark of age upon 
them, yet displaying in their elaborate decorations the taste 
and resources of their original owners. She was in truth, 
at one period " the Athens of America."! 

After Baltimore, of the new towns, the most important 
for its subsequent growth, was Frederick, t the county town 
of Frederick county — situated in the rich and fertile valley, 
watered by the Monocacy river. It was laid out in Sep- 
tember, 1745, by Mr. Patrick Dulany — its streets were in- 
tended to run due north and east, but from the clumsiness 

* Holmes' Annals, vol. 1, p. 539. f Annals; McMahon. 

X So named after Frederick Calvert, son, and afterwards successor, 
of Charles, Lord Baltimore. 



1715-51.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. Ill 

of the wooden instrument used in the survey,* the object 
was not accomplished. In 1748, on the formation of the 
new county of Frederick, it was made the county town ; 
and from that time continued to increase in wealth, popu- 
lation and influence. It is now the second city in Mary- 
land. Another important town was given to the State by 
Frederick county, though it has again been lost to her: 
whether it will seek to return to the protection of the mo- 
ther that gave it birth and fostered it, remains yet to be 
seen. Georgetown, now in the District of Columbia, ceded 
to the United States by Maryland, was laid out under an 
act of Assembly, passed in 1751, in eighty lots, comprising 
sixty acres of land.t An inspection house for tobacco 
already existed there, and the new town at the head of 
navigation on the Potomac, possessed advantages which 
soon CTave it strength and life. 

Military ai- ^^^ requisitions, which had heretofore been 
'*'"■ made upon Maryland by the crown, had been 

confined to assistance to the northern colonies: but a great 
expedition was contemplated in 1740 against the Spanish 
dominions in the new world. To meet the expense of 
raising and equipping five hundred volunteers, the number 
assigned to Maryland, the legislature appropriated the sum 
of twenty-five hundred and sixty-two pounds : but this 
being found insufficient, in a subsequent session of the 
same year, five thousand pounds were voted, and an indem- 
nity granted to the owners and captains of the vessels which 
might transport the troops to the place of rendezvous, in 
the islands, from the prescribed penalties, should there be 
indentured apprentices among them.t Every colony north 
of Carolina was called on for its quota of men — none re- 
fused. § At Jamaica, the place of rendezvous, in the begin- 
ning of the year 1741, were assembled twenty-nine ships 
of the line, and eighty smaller vessels — manned by fifteen 
• The Key. 1798. f Bacon. t Ibid. § Bancroft. 



112 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1741-6. 

thousand sailors, and bearing an army of twelve thousand 
soldiers completely armed and equipped — the noblest force 
up to that period ever gathered on those waters. And yet 
this mighty armament was destined to misfortune. The 
land force was under command of Wentworth, the naval 
under Vernon — the one, weak and irresolute, the other, 
rash and impetuous; and their divided councils brought 
defeat and calamity upon both. They attacked Cartha- 
gena, one of the strongest of the Spanish towns, and 
captured several forts, but were repulsed in the last assault 
with terrible destruction. Sickness raged throughout the 
fleet and camp ; men died in crowds, and were cast from 
their beds into the sea. In two days, the effective force 
on land, dwindled down from six thousand six hundred, 
to three thousand two hundred men. Abandoning the 
enterprize in despair, they demolished the fortifications 
which they had captured, and retired, with the remnant 
of their forces, from the place which had proved so dis- 
astrous to them. What share the Maryland forces bore in 
the expedition is not known, but it is said that nine out 
of ten of the colonial levies perished. The fleet returned 
to Jamaica in November, after an absence of nine months, 
during which it is computed twenty thousand men had lost 
their lives.* Yet the colonists seem not to have been 
dispirited by the disastrous result of this powerful armament, 
and, on the 26th of June, 1746, the Assembly voted another 
supply of four thousand five hundred pounds, to raise a 
body of men to aid in the expedition against Canada.! The 
requisition was met with promptness, and, before the sum- 
mer had passed, three companies, raised in the province by 
Capts. Campbell, Croft, and Jordan, sailed from Annapolis, 
"with cheerful hearts, in high spirits and all well clothed 
and accoutred, to join the main body of the forces."! In 
November of the same year, a further appropriation of eleven 
• Bancroft. J Bacon. \ Annals of Annapolis. 



1715-51.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 113 

hundred pounds was made to pay the additional expenses 
of this volunteer force. 
Governors In 1751, Charles Lord Baltimore died, having 

from 1715 to II- 

1753. ruled his province, in person or by his governors, 

for the space of thirty-six years : — an era marked by general 
internal peace, and increasing prosperity, and full of irre- 
sistible testimony to the unyielding spirit of the people, in 
defending their established rights, and their zeal, in the 
acquisition of new ones. During this long period, seven 
governors presided in the administration of provincial affairs, 
the lord Proprietary remaining in the colony and governing 
in person only during two years. John Hart was commis- 
sioned in 1715 — Charles Calvert succeeded him in 1727. 
Benedict Leonard Calvert, brother of the lord Proprietary, 
was appointed in 1727, but, being compelled by ill health 
to return to England, Samuel Ogle was named to replace 
him. In 1733, Lord Baltimore himself, finding his presence 
necessary in the colony in relation to the disputed boundary 
with Pennsylvania, arrived in Maryland, and assumed the 
government in person. Upon his return to England, two 
years after, he placed it again in the hands of Mr. Ogle. 
In 1742, Thomas Bladen was commissioned, and con- 
tinued to rule the province until 1747, when Mr. Ogle was 
for the third time appointed. He continued in office two 
years after the death of Lord Baltimore. 
New coun- ^^ ^^^ period occupied by these seven adminis- 
^'*^' trations, under the dominion of the lord Proprie- 

tary, the growth and prosperity of the colony received a 
new impulse. It had increased more rapidly in that time, 
than during the royal administration. Since 1660, seven 
new counties had been laid out, and, of these, three were 
erected before the overthrow of the Proprietary government 
by the Protestant revolution — two only during the long and 
barren royal domination, which succeeded that event — and 

two under the restoration. Many of the counties, formed 
10* P 



114 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1715-51. 

in these early times, were changed in their limits and ex- 
tent, by subdivision, or alteration by subsequent legislation. 
Somerset was erected by the governor's order of the 22d 
of August, 1666 ; Dorchester by the legislature, in 1669 ; 
Cecil in 1674, by the proclamation of Governor Charles 
Calvert; Prince George's by act of Assembly, in 1695; 
Queen Anne's, in 1706 ; Worcester, in 1742 — though a 
county of that name had been formed as early as 1672 : but 
the whole of its territory, lying within the present limits 
of Delaware, was lost to Maryland when the boundary of 
that province was adjusted. Frederick county, the richest 
and most populous in the State, was erected in 1748 out of 
portions of Prince George's, Anne Arundel and Baltimore, 
and originally included the whole territory north and west 
of these counties. From this time to the revolution, two 
other counties, Harford and Caroline, were laid out by acts 
of the Assembly, at the same session of 1773.* Frederick 
county still retains her old pre-eminence, in wealth and 
population, although three new counties, and part of a 
fourth, have been formed out of her ancient limits. Mont- 
gomery and Washington were carved out by the Conven- 
tion of 1776. Alleghany was erected out of part of Wash- 
ington, in 1789 ; and, youngest of all the counties of the 
State, Carroll, in 1836, cut off a large tract from Frederick 
as well as from Baltimore county. 

The population of the province had increased 

Population 

rapidly. In 1748, the number of inhabitants was and manu- 
factures. 
estimated at 130,000 souls, of whom 94,000 were 

whites, and 36,000 blacks. In 1756, five years after the 
death of Charles Lord Baltimore, it had reached to 154,188, 
of whom 107,963 were whites and 46,225 black, being an 
increase of 24,188 in eight years.f Along with this ex- 
tension of population had grown up the internal resources 
of the province. The people were always desirous of 
* McMahon. f Holmes makes it in 1755, 108,000. 



1715-51.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 115 

developing the natural riches of their soil, both mineral 
and agricultural, and had, already, endeavored to rear up, 
and encourage, domestic manufactures. Even prior to the 
establishment of the linen and woollen manufactories in 
Dorchester, nearly every family produced a sufficiency of 
homespun articles for its common use, and for the clothing 
of the servants and slaves ; but the jealousy of England 
prevented any successful effort to pursue this policy further. 
The legislature, however, ventured to impose a duty upon 
the exportation of raw hides, leather and old iron, for the 
protection of tanners, shoemakers and smiths. Grants of 
lands Mvere made to those who undertook to erect water 
mills, to encourage the making of flour for exportation. 
Abundance of iron ore was found in the province, which 
could be worked to advantage, but the English government, 
to insure the preference to its own iron, offered the pay- 
ment of a bounty upon the importation of the metal into 
the colony. The legislature, to counteract the effect of 
this measure, in 1719, ordered that a grant of one hundred 
acres of land should be made to every one who would erect 
a furnace, or forge — the good result of this step was evident 
in the erection of a number of works, of which there were 
already, in 1749, eight furnaces and nine forges. Large 
quantities of wood land, in addition to the bounty grants, 
were taken by their owners. As early as 1742, copper 
works were in operation in the colony, and, in that year, 
the Assembly to encourage their proprietor, Mr. John 
Digges, in his undertaking, relieved all the laborers employ- 
ed at his works from levy for seven years, and from the duty 
of working upon the public roads and bridges, and attend- 
ing at musters.* The making of wine was attempted, and 
successfully, to a certain extent: it Avas similar to Burgundy 
in its taste and quality, and seems to have gained a reputa- 
tion beyond the borders of the State. Biirnaby, who visited 

* Bacon. 



116 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1715-51. 

the middle colonies in 1748, says that he drank some Mary- 
land wine of Col. Tascoe's raising, at the table of Gover- 
nor Hamilton, of Pennsylvania, and " thought it not bad." 
Wheat and Indian corn were largely exported, but the great 
staple of Maryland trade was tobacco, which had swelled 
to such importance, in 1736, that one hundred and thirty 
ships were employed in it : and in 1747, not less than fifty 
thousand hogsheads were exported. The average exporta- 
tion, however, was about thirty thousand hogsheads.* 
Churches. After the revolution of 1688, the province had 
been divided into convenient parishes, of which there 
were now between forty and fifty, and the clergy of the 
established church were well provided for by law; a tax 
of thirty pounds of tobacco per head was levied on all 
titheables of the parish for their support : the proceeds of 
which, in not a few parishes, amounted at that day to three 
hundred pounds sterling, or about fifteen hundred dollars 
per annum. They were presented to their livings by the 
governor, and were under the jurisdiction of the Episcopal 
bishop of London,! who governed them through a commis- 
sary, appointed by himself and resident in the province. 
This system was first introduced in 1692, and Thos. Bray, 
the commissary, then inspected and arranged the church 
affairs of the colony. At that period, the parishes were 
only thirty in number, and but sixteen of these were sup- 
plied with clergymen. Dr. Bray appears to have been an 
energetic and zealous man : he procured the erection of 
several additional chapels, and caused the people of the 
different parishes to be supplied with books of Common 
Prayer and practical devotion.^ 

During this period, the currency was in great Currency. 

disorder. The sudden depression of the prices of tobacco 

frequently drew out the specie of the colony to pay for the 

manufactures, which were imported in large amounts ; and 

* Burnaby. f Ibid. J Holmes, vol. 1, p. 443. 



1715-51.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 117 

even the bounty offered by the government for the intro- 
duction of gold and silver failed, as such efforts always 
must fail, to remedy the evil. An issue of paper money, 
or government bills of credit, was resorted to; but this be- 
came depreciated at one period even to half its nominal 
value. Yet it was persisted in, in spite of the experience 
of its inefficiency, and by a single law in 1733, an issue of 
ninety thousand pounds was authorized. A portion of this 
large sum was ordered to be expended in the erection of 
a governor's house, and of county jails; the rest was thrown 
into circulation by loans and otherwise. To redeem these 
bills, a tax of one shilling and three pence was laid upon 
every hogshead of tobacco exported ; and the proceeds of 
this impost, together with the interest receivecrby the trus- 
tees on the loans, were placed in the hands of trustees in 
England, to be invested in stock of the Bank of England. 
They were made redeemable in thirty-one years. It was 
an experiment to supply by means of a government bank 
paper, the drain of specie from the province. The bills 
were made a legal tender in the payment of all debts and 
fees, " clergy's dues and tobacco for building and repairing 
churches excepted."* To remedy the embarrassments to 
the internal trade, from the fluctuation of the value of bills of 
credit, in 1732 the legislature made tobacco a legal tender, 
at one penny per pound, and Indian corn at twenty pence 
per bushelt— a striking evidence of the distress, to which 
the deranged condition of the currency had reduced the 
province. In addition to the difficulties which this condi- 
tion of internal affairs entailed upon them, the government 
of the colony were deeply occupied, throughout all this 
period, with the boundary disputes. 

TheBounda- ^^ ^^® charter of no colony were the bounda- 
ry disputes. j.-gg j^Qj.^ distinctly laid down, than in that of 

Maryland, and yet no colony has been subjected to greater 
* Bacon, 1733, ch. 6. f Holmes, vol. 1, p. 553. 



118 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [165S-6?. 

difficulties about limits, or been robbed of larger or more 
valuable territory. Its extent was marked out in the char 
ter by five lines, — beginning at a point on the Chesapeake, 
called Watkins' Point, near the river Wighco, and running 
east to the ocean,— then, by the Delaware Bay, to that por- 
tion of the bay under the 40th degree, — then, by that 
degree, due west, until it reached the meridian of the first 
fountain of the Potomac, — then, by that meridian, to the 
first fountain : and lastly by the southern shore of that river 
to the bay, and across to Watkins' Point. The first con- 
troversy was natural enough : it arose with Virginia, as to 
the actual position of Watkins' Point. This colony had, 
from the first, denied the validity of the charter of Mary- 
land, and ciRmed the whole territory included in it as her 
own ; but she abandoned her pretensions by the treaty of 
1658. She, however, continued to encroach upon the 
limits of that charter, by her location of them. She had 
commenced settlements upon the tongue of land now 
forming Accomac and Northampton counties. To secure 
the footing of Maryland, Governor Calvert, in 1661, issued 
a commission, to Edmond Scarborough, John Elzey, and 
Randall Revel, to make settlements and grant lands, on the 
Eastern shore, in the name of the province. The terms 
offered were favorable, and, within a year, the number 
of titheables at Manokin and Annamessex, reached fifty. 
They succeeded in forming a treaty of amity with the em- 
peror of the Nanticokes. The Virginians, however, soon 
became restless ; and Scarborough, who was the surveyor 
general of that colony, demanded that the new settlers 
should submit to their authority. Meeting with opposition 
from Elzey, he caused him to be arrested in Accomac. 
Having extracted an equivocal promise of obedience from 
his prisoner, he released him; and, entering the settlements 
in a hostile manner, succeeded in compelling a partial sub- 
mission. Elzey immediately placed the affair before Gov 



1642.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



119 



Calvert, and demanded aid to enable him to repel the out- 
rage ; but that peaceful officer preferred representing the 
transaction to Governor Berkeley of Virginia, who promptly 
disavowed the whole proceeding. The negotiations which 
followed, terminated in the appointment of a commissioner 
by each government to ascertain the true position of Wat- 
kins' Point, and to mark the boundary between the posses- 
sions of the two colonies on the Eastern shore. Philip 
Calvert was named on the part of Maryland, and Edmond 
Scarborough on the part of Virginia. They finally adjusted 
the dispute on the '2oth of June, 1668 ; and the line was 
distinctly indicated, and exists as the present boundary of 
the two States.* 

The next dispute, in order of settlement, was 

Delaware . n t\ i ^ 

and Pennsyi- that by which the provmce of Delaware was lost 

vania. 

to Maryland. The English having made the 
first discoveries on this portion of the North American 
continent, claimed the whole territory. In despite of the 
right which they had thus obtained by the laws of civilized 
nations, the Dutch began settlements at New York, in 
162S-9 — and, together with the Swedes, at a later period, 
commenced colonies on the Delaware, principally on the 
eastern side. A controversy immediately sprung up be- 
tween these two nations, which resulted in the final subjec- 
tion of the Swedes, in 1655. In the meanwhile, however, 
the charter of Maryland was granted, and the settlement at 
St. Mary's made: and, if there were any virtue in grants at 
all. Lord Baltimore was clearly entitled to the possession 
of Delaware, which the Swedes and Dutch had occupied 
in disregard of the rio^hts of England. In 1642, a small 
colony of Marylanders attempted to make good these 
rights, by settling on the Schuylkill, but were compelled to 
abandon the country by their opponents. Too much ei>- 
gaged at home, to give due attention to this distant border, 

* McMahon. 



120 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1664. 

the colonial government took no steps to assert their claims 
until the reduction of the Swedes by the Dutch and the 
union of both into one colony. Then, Col. Nathaniel Utye 
was despatched, in 1659, to the Delaware settlements, to 
notify the inhabitants that they were seated in his lordship's 
territory, without permission ; and to deliver their authori- 
ties a written command, from the governor of Maryland, to 
depart from the limits of the province. He was, at the 
same time, ordered to inform the settlers, that favorable 
terms would be granted to them, upon submission to the 
lord Proprietary. 

The demand was not only refused, but the governor of 
New York, Peter Stuyvesant, at the close of the year de- 
spatched two commissioners to Maryland, with instructions 
to insist upon the rights of the Dutch to the settlements 
upon the Delaware. Arguments on both sides were used 
in vain : and the envoys having received and rejected a new- 
demand of submission, closed the negotiation and returned 
home without having effected any thing. Entertaining a 
doubt whether the Dutch were really trenching on their 
limits, and having no hope of assistance from the other co- 
lonies, in case of open hostilities, the government deferred 
any further action until the advice of the lord Proprietary 
should be obtained, and it should be ascertained by actual 
observation, whether the settlements at Newcastle were 
within the 40th degree. An agent was, at length, de- 
spatched to Holland to represent the affair to the States 
General, which directed that the settlers should be with- 
drawn from about Cape Henlopen ; but refused to abandon 
the more northern posts. The Dutch were, however, about 
to be supplanted by more dangerous adversaries. They had 
commenced to infringe on the New England provinces, and 
it was determined to reduce them to subjection to the Brit- 
ish government. In 1664, Charles 11 granted to his brother, 
James, duke of York, all the territory lying between Con- 



1682.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 121 

necticut and the eastern shore of the Delaware ; and an 
expedition was immediately fitted out to conquer these pos- 
sessions. In September, New York surrendered to Gov. 
Nichols, while the settlements on the Delaware were given 
up to a detachment under Sir Robert Carr, and the inhabit- 
ants of both were admitted to the rights of English colo- 
nists. New Jersey was granted, by the Duke of York, to 
the lords Berkeley and Carteret. 

William Penn soon after became interested in this pro- 
vince, and, in the course of his connection with it, learning 
the richness of the country west of the Delaware, he deter- 
mined to make application to the king for a grant of it. 
The petition' was laid before the duke of York's secretary 
and the agents of Lord Baltimore; and at their request, the 
grant was so made as not to infringe upon Maryland. The 
lines were marked out by lord Chief Justice North. That 
bordering Maryland, was *' a circle nine miles around 
Newcastle to the beginning of the 40th degree of latitude," 
and then, by the 40th degree, westward. To ascertain this 
degree, Markham, the agent of Penn, went to the province, 
and was met by Lord Baltimore at Upland, now called 
Chester, where, upon actual observation, it was discovered 
that the 40th degree, instead of being in the vicinity of 
Newcastle, extended near to the Schuylkill, making the 
boundary described impossible. The conference was there- 
fore fruitless ; and Penn set about obtaining from the duke 
of York a grant of the Delaware settlements, which his 
agents, in conquering the possessions of the Dutch, had 
seized upon and continued to hold in spite of the claims 
of Lord Baltimore. At length, the duke, in 1682, conveyed 
to him the town of Newcastle, and the territory twelve 
miles around it, and extending even to Cape Henlopen, — 
an act equally dishonest and disgraceful in both — the one 
giving that which he knew was the property of another, — 
11 Q 



122 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. \_\132. 

the Other accepting a gift from him who, he knew, could 
not rightfully bestow it. 

Penn, having thus endeavored to strengthen his position, 
obtained an interview with Lord Baltimore, in Maryland, 
some time in December, 1682, and presented a letter from 
the king, directing the lord Proprietary to fix his northern 
boundary one hundred and twenty miles from his southern 
limits. Lord Baltimore declined obedience, relying upon 
his charter, which secured to him the territory to the 40th 
deo-ree. Thus, this second conference ended without 
results, as did also a third, held at Newcastle in May, 1683. 
As Lord Baltimore, now acting with energy, was endeavor- 
insr to extend his settlements into, and had made a formal 
demand for the delivery of the disputed territory, Penn 
hastened to England to attack the charter of Maryland, on 
the ground that Delaware was settled, at the time when the 
charter was issued, and that that instrument only included 
unsettled territory. His former patron, the duke of York, 
had now ascended the throne as James II, and Penn suc- 
ceeded so far as to obtain a decree, in 1685, from the com- 
missioners of plantations, that the territory between the 
two bays should be divided by a straight line into two equal 
portions as far as Cape Henlopen, and that portion, now 
constituting Delaware, be given up to Penn. Fearing the 
destruction of his patent, the lord Proprietary was compel- 
led to submit, and, although the king was soon dethroned, 
this decision formed the groundwork of the subsequent final 
settlement. However, until 1732, the line continued to be 
disputed, and many outrages were committed by both par- 
ties in endeavoring to sustain their pretensions. In that 
year an agreement was entered into by the Proprietary to 
adopt the border fixed by the decree of 1685 on the east, 
and on the north a line drawn due west, fifteen miles south 
of Philadelphia. 

When Lord Baltimore perceived the full extent of his 



1750-60.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 123 

agreement, he endeavored to set it aside ; but, in 1750, 
a decree in chancery, for its performance, was obtained 
against him by the Penns. Upon his death, his son, Fred- 
erick, Lord Baltimore, continued to resist its execution, and 
proceedings were commenced against him by Thomas and 
Richard Penn, the surviving Proprietaries : but finding by 
representations from Maryland, that the condition of the 
border was frightful and lawless, he at length, on the 4th 
July 1760, agreed to an amicable arrangement. The lines 
already indicated were adopted and commissioners appoint- 
ed to mark them out.* The commissioners — in the execu- 
tion of their duty, on the northern line, or "Mason and 
Dixon's," as it is called, after the scientific gentlemen who 
laid it out — set up at the end of every mile, a stone with 
the letter P. and the arms of the Penns engraved on the 
north, and " M" and the escutcheon of Lord Baltimore on 
the south side ; many of these stones are still to be found 
upon the line. They were, however, prevented by fears of 
hostile Indians, from proceeding further than Sideling Hill 
— a distance of one hundred and thirty miles from the place 
of beginning. Similar land marks were placed on the 
Delaware boundary : and thus, after a struggle of more than 
a century, a large and fertile territory was forever lost to 
Maryland. 

Virginia. The last of the boundary disputes remains un- 
settled to this day. The charter of Maryland defined the 
western boundary by the meridian of the first fountain of 
the Potomac; and the question arose whether the north or 
south branch of the Potomac was the main head of that 
river. The decision involved a large territory, as the south 
branch extended far to the south and west of the north 
branch, and the meridian of its first springs would neces- 
sarily throw the western boundary farther back than that of 
the north branch, and include the fine country between the 
* McMahon, 44-5. 



124 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1745-76. 

two streams. During his exile, the unhappy Charles II 
granted to several of his followers, that portion of Virginia 
lying between, and bounded by, the heads of the Potomac 
and Rappahannock. After the restoration the grant was 
re-issued to Lord Culpeper, who, by assignments from the 
other lords, had become sole proprietor ; and the title de- 
scended from him to his daughter, the wife of Lord Fairfax. 
This grant, in terms, did not interfere with that of Mary- 
land; but the question then arose, which was the true head 
of the Potomac, the north or south branch. It is very clear 
that the south branch is the principal stream, being at least 
si^ty miles longer than the north. Lord Fairfax imme- 
diately began to make grants, and, in 1748, formally opened 
a land office in " the Neck," as his territory was called. 
In that year he entered into an agreement with the autho- 
rities of Virginia, by which they adopted the northern 
branch of the Potomac as the common boundary, without 
regard to the claims of Lord Baltimore, who, in conse- 
quence, directed Gov. Sharpe, in 1753, to investigate the 
question, and maintain his just rights. Accordingly, the 
governor, having ascertained by the testimony of Col. Thos. 
Cresap that the south branch was the true head, wrote to 
Lord Fairfax, protesting against any such arrangement, and 
claiming the boundary on the south branch. In 1771, Cre 
sap, under the direction of the Proprietary, surveyed both 
branches; and, in 1774, the Maryland commissioners for the 
Proprietary began to grant lands in the disputed territory 
on the west. The revolution only changed the parties to 
the controversy. Upon the adoption of its constitution 
in 1776, Virginia expressly recognized all the rights of 
Maryland to the territory contained within the charter: yet 
when commissioners were subsequently appointed to mark 
off the disputed territory, it restricted its agents to the 
boundary assumed by Lord Fairfax; and the representa- 
tives of Maryland refused to treat with persons having no 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



125 



power to discuss and adjust the subject of dispute. Many 
efforts were subsequently made without success — the last 
in 1824 — and the matter rests thus at this day, occasionally 
agitated by the legislature, but as often abandoned. 




ir 



CHAPTER VL 

THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 
1751 — 1758. 

In 1751, Frederick, last of the lords Baltimore, while yet 
a minor, became by the death of his father. Proprietary of 
Maryland. The French war had just been brought to a 
close ; it was one, however, in which Maryland had borne 
but little part. The province was not immediately con- 
cerned in its dangers, and contented itself with furnishing 
occasional supplies of men and money to assist the northern 
colonies. But a new contest was approaching, in which 
it was deeply interested, and which poured the horrors of 
Indian invasion across its border. It was the last war be- 
tween the English and French for dominion in the new 
world, and terminated in the overthrow of the latter, in the 
conquest of their possessions, and eventually led to the 
humiliation of the former, in the independence of the 
United States. 

The governor of Canada, having conceived the French and 
bold idea of connecting that colony, with the ^"'^'^" "'^'' 
French possessions in Louisiana, immediately began to 
construct a chain of forts along the Mississippi and Ohio 
rivers, passing through a territory to which the English laid 
claim. As early as 1749, a grant of lands, west of the 
Allecrhanies, had been made to an association called the 
Ohio Company; which, principally for the purposes of 
traffic with the natives, erected posts extending even to the 
Ohio river. These movements, probably, led the French 
governor to the formation and execution of his design. 
Several of the company's trading posts were taken and 

pillaged, the traders themselves made captives j and strong 

126 



1753-4.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 127 

positions selected, fortified and garrisoned, to maintain 
an open communication from New Orleans to Quebec, 
along the course of the Alleghany, Ohio, and Mississippi 
rivers. Virginia was principally interested in the contro- 
versy ; and its governor immediately despatched Colonel 
Washington on an embassy to the French commandant, to 
protest against his proceedings and to demand an evacua- 
tion of the territory. Washington performed his difficult 
and dangerous mission, through a hostile Indian country, 
with that courage, zeal, and perseverance, which afterwards, 
in a higher station, made him the saviour of his country. 
The demands of Virginia were rejected, and nothing was 
left but a recourse to hostilities. In the war which ensued, 
Maryland became involved simply in self defence and for 
the assistance of the sister colonics, — while Virginia and 
Pennsylvania were contending for the acquisition of a large 
and fertile territory. At the beginning of the war, there- 
fore, the legislature of Maryland stood aloof, in spite of the 
commands of the crown, the remonstrances of the governor 
and the entreaties of Virginia, declaring to each their de- 
termination to resist any and every foreign invasion, and to 
contribute their assistance to the neighboring colonies, 
when they conceived their necessity required it. 

They, however, consented to send commissioners, Chas. 
Carroll and Benjamin Tasker, to the general convention 
which the English government had directed to assemble at 
Albany, and appropriated the sum of five hundred pounds 
to purchase presents, to secure the good will of the 
Indians. When the convention met, they entered into 
designs very different from those entertained by Maryland 
and beyond the power granted to its delegates. They re- 
solved that a general union among the colonies was neces- 
sary for their preservation, and a plan of confederacy, sub- 
mitted by Dr. Franklin, was adopted.* Ever jealous of 
* McMahon; Pitkin. 



128 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1753^. 

their colonial independence, proud of their charter, and 
fearful of the invasion of their rights of internal sove- 
reignty, the people of Maryland had constantly resisted 
every attempt to effect a union of the colonies under one 
government. They did not now yield. The plan was 
submitted to the General Assembly, and was unanimously 
disapproved of by the lower house, as " tending to the 
destruction of the rights and liberties of His Majesty's sub- 
jects in the province." Whilst they, thus fearlessly, pur- 
sued the course of policy they had marked out for them- 
selves, the time had arrived when they could no longer 
avoid taking part in the war. Colonel Washington's forces 
had been captured at great Meadows by the French and 
Indians, who, from Fort Duquesne, erected on the present 
site of Pittsburg, poured their savage and plundering bands 
upon the unprotected frontiers of Pennsylvania, Maryland 
and Virginia. It became necessary, therefore, to reduce it. 
The General Assembly was, in consequence, at once con- 
vened at Annapolis, on the 17th of July, 1754. They im- 
mediately voted a supply of six thousand pounds, to be 
applied to the aid of Virginia, and to the encouragement 
of the friendly southern Indians, in their service, by sup- 
porting their wives and children during their expeditions. 
Although legislative action was thus long delayed, the 
people of the province had taken part in the war, from its 
commencement. They organized companies of rangers 
and frontier guards for the protection of the border settle- 
ments. A fort had been erected at Cumberland — far be- 
yond the settlements — which served as the resting point in 
the expeditions undertaken against the French on the Ohio. 
In some of these, the people of Maryland bore a part. In 
September, 1753, two companies, under Capt. Dagworthy, 
Lieutenants Bacon and Forty, marched from Annapolis to 
the western frontier. In the ensuing year, the government 
of Virginia contemplated an expedition against fort Du- 



1754.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 12^ 

quesne, or the erection of a stronghold to restrain its garri- 
son; and its regiment, having been joined by several com- 
panies from Marylarid and North Carolina, was ordered to 
commence its march in August: but when it was found that 
the number of the troops did not exceed half that of the 
enemy; and that no sufficient provision had been made, by 
the legislature for their supply, the enterprize was necessa- 
rily abandoned.* It was, however, only to prosecute it 
with renewed vigor in the ensuing campaign, and exten- 
sive preparations were made to insure its success. 

The command of all the forces, engaged against the 
French on the Ohio, was, by a royal commission, conferred 
upon Gov. Sharpe, of Maryland, in chief, while Col. Fitz- 
hugh was to conduct the army, during the absence of his 
superior officer, upon his official duties as governor, and 
while visiting the military posts. Colonel Washington, dis- 
gusted with the treatment he had received from Governor 
Dinwiddie, upon the reduction of the Virginia regiment 
in consequence of disputes concerning rank, resigned his 
commission, and retired from the service. Justly appreciat- 
ing his talents and qualifications for the peculiar duty before 
him, Gov. Sharpe was desirous of securing them once more 
to the common cause, and, at his request, Col. Fitzhugh 
addressed him a letter in which he tried the force of argu- 
ment and persuasion, to induce him to join them, offering 
him the rank of captain. But Washington refused, declar- 
ing that he could not consent to accept the commission of 
captain, when he had already held that of colonel.t 

On the 24th of December, the General Assembly of 
Maryland was again convened, and passed a law for the 
levying of troops for the ensuing campaign, and, as an in- 
ducement to men to enlist, provided that if any citizen of 
the province should be so maimed in the service as to be 
incapable of maintaining himself, he should be supported at 
• Marshall. t Sparks, vol. 2, p. 64-5. 

R 



130 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1755. 



the public expense. In the ensuing session of February, 
1755, they regulated the rates of transportation of military 
material, and the mode of quartering soldiers in the pro- 
vince, and prohibited by severe penalties any inhabitant 
from supplying the French or their Indian allies with stores, 
ammunition, or provisions. All these measures were pre- 
paratory to that expedition which ended so disastrously for 
the whole country. 
Braddock's Early in the year, Gen. Braddock, at the head 

Defeat. ^^ ^ strong body of troops, embarked at Cork, for 
the colonies, and, on his arrival at Alexandria with his fleet 
of transports,* a council of the colonial governors was sum- 
moned to meet him at Annapolis. On the 3d of April, 
Gen. Braddock, Gov. Dinwiddle, and Commodore Keppel 
arrived at Annapolis, and were joined on the 11th and r2th 
by governors Shirley of Massachusetts, De Launcey of New 
York, and Morris of Pennsylvania: but the place of meeting 
having been changed — these gentlemen in company with 
Gov. Sharpe of Maryland, proceeded to the general's head- 
quarters at Alexandria. In the council that ensued, three 
expeditions were determined on : the first against fort Du- 
quesne, under Braddock himself, reinforced by the Mary- 
land and Virorinia levies, the second, against Niagara and 
fort Frontignac, and the third, against Crown Point. The 
council, haying completed its plans, broke up, and the dif- 
ferent governors hastened to their respective stations. 

On the 17th, Governor Sharpe returned to Annapolis, 
and in a few days after went to Frederick, where a portion 
of the army was already quartered, to expedite the neces- 
sary preparations for transporting the supplies. He was 
soon met by Gen. Braddock, who began his march to that 
place from Alexandria with Dunbar's regiment immediately 
after the breaking up of the council, intending to remain 
until his stores should be forwarded to fort Cumberland, 
* Green's Gazette. 



' fu 



1755.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 131 

his ultimate point of rendezvous. During his stay at Fre- 
derick, he was joined by Colonel Washington, whom he 
had invited to serve as his aid-de-camp through the cam- 
paign, and to whose skill and courage the army was after- 
wards essentially indebted.* After the departure of the 
general and his forces from Frederick to Winchester, Va., 
on the 7th of May, the people of Maryland, in large num- 
bers, marched from the different counties to defend the 
frontiers, and to replace the garrisons of the outposts; and, 
with commendable spirit, money, clothing, and provisions, 
for the volunteers, were advanced by gentlemen of the 
province.! 

The impressment of wagons, horses, and teamsters, was 
carried on with great activity, especially in Frederick, and 
to such an extent, that the contractors for erecting a new 
court house there, found it impossible to obtain horses to 
transport the materials to the site of the building.l Benja- 
min Franklin, then postmaster-general for the colonies, had 
met Braddock at Frederick, to concert a plan for forward- 
ing despatches, and, learning the scarcity of wagons, under- 
taken to furnish them from Pennsylvania. He succeeded 
in hiring one hundred and fifty, in York and Lancaster 
counties, by giving his own bonds to the owners for their 
indemnification, a responsibility which involved him in great 
difficulty after the defeat at the Monongahela.§ And yet 
in spite of these general draughts such was the scarcity of 
means of transportation, that Braddock was unable to begin 
his march from fort Cumberland until the middle of June. 
A further delay in his progress was caused by the neces- 
sity of cutting a road for the troops through that rough and 
mountainous country. Fearing that the French would 
have time to collect a strong force at fort Duquesne, the 
general selected a body of twelve hundred men, and, leav- 

* Sparks. f Recital in rejected Bill of 1762, Sec. 44. 

I Frederick county records. § Sparks. 



132 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1755. 

mg the remainder of the army to advance with the heavy 
stores, hurried forward to surprise the enemy. 

On the 8th of July, he reached the Monongahela ; and, 
expecting to begin the investment of the fort on the follow- 
ing morning, arranged his forces for the attack. Three 
hundred British regulars, grenadiers and light infantry un- 
der Lieut. Col. Gage, formed the van, and were followed, 
at some distance, by the artillery and the main body of the 
army, divided into small columns. The provincials, accus- 
tomed to the wiles of an Indian enemy, repea^tedly warned 
Braddock of the danorer of an ambuscade, — but their admo- 
nitions were derided. Twice the army crossed the river, 
in its march; no sooner had it. passed over the second time, 
being about the hour of one o'clock, than a heavy fire en- 
veloped the advance, which had plunged into a narrow 
defile. The regulars were instantly thrown into confusion. 
The volleys of an unseen foe mowed down their ranks; with 
their own random fire they slew one another. At length, a 
panic seized upon them, and they oroke and fled in wild 
disorder. In vain, their officers attempted to rally them ; 
in vain did they, clustering together when deserted by theil 
men, charge in bodies upon the foe. Wherever an epau- 
lette appeared, it became the mark of the unerring Indian. 
Col. Washington, alone unwounded of all the aids-de-camp, 
brought up the Virginians and provincials, who, taking to 
cover like the Indians, gallantly sustained the fire, and 
secured the retreat of the frantic British regulars. To the 
last, Braddock with undiminished courage persisted in 
maintaining the action, until he received a mortal wound, it 
is said, from the hand of a provincial, named Faucett, who 
was indignant that the obstinacy of one man should sacri- 
fice the lives of hundreds. Then the rout became universal. 
Sixty-four out of eighty-five officers, and about one-half 
the rank and file were killed or wounded.* The victorious 
* Marshall ; Sparks. 



1755.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 133 

force of the enemy consisted only of thirty Frenchmen and 
three or four hundred Indians — of whom seven Indians and 
four Frenchmen were killed — whilst that of the defeated 
army was twelve hundred regulars and provincials.* 

The defeat must be attributed to the rashness of General 
Braddock, who, however, displayed great coolness and 
bravery upon the field, and had five horses killed under 
him, before he received the fatal wound. Col. Washington 
had two horses shot under him, and his uniform was riddled 
with balls. He was the only mounted officer that escaped 
unhurt — Providence had reserved him for greater things. 
The rout did not cease until the fuofitives had reached the 
camp of the main body — forty miles from the scene of 
action — where Braddock breathed his last. Col. Dunbar, 
infected with the panic, destroyed his baggage and stores, 
and placing the wounded in the wagons which had been 
used in their transportation, retreated hastily to fort Cum- 
berland. Utterly desponding, he soon after marched to 
Philadelphia, where, although it was yet the month of 
August, he went into winter quarters, abandoning the de- 
fenceless frontiers to the furv of the savage. 

A period of terror and desolation ensued — the settlements 
were attacked and broken up: and the borders of Pennsylva- 
nia, Maryland and Virginia became one extended field of 
petty battles, murder and devastation.! The outposts were 
driven in, and some of the smaller posts captured and their 
garrisons massacred ; and Frederick, Winchester, and Car- 
lisle became the frontiers of the colonies. t Fort Cumber- 
land was still held by the troops under Capt. Dagworthy ; but 
this isolated fortress could afford no protection against the 
roving bands of savages, who passed around it to seek their 
prey in the settlements beyond. The panic, left by the 
Hying British troops, spread even to the bay shore. Many 
of the inhabitants from the interior fled to Baltimore, and 

* Captain J. Smith's Narrative. t McMahon. J Marshall. 

12 



134 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1755. 

there preparations were made by the citizens of that town 
to embark their women and children on board the vessels 
in the harbor preparatory to a flight to Virginia; while some 
of the Virginians even believed that there was no safety 
short of England itself. Yet if the news of the defeat ex- 
cited terror in some — it also nerved others, to preparation 
for the coming danger. The people in the west gathered 
at Col. Cresap's, and strengthened his block-house for de- 
fence : others sought protection at fort Cumberland. Even 
before the defeat, as if in anticipation of it, a party of 
Indians had made their way into the settlements and com- 
mitted many ravages. On the 3d of July, they attacked 
the house of Mr. Williams, in Frederick county, and mas- 
sacred twelve persons belonging to his family.* And after 
the defeat, a party of inhabitants flying to fort Cumberland 
were waylaid and fifteen killed; three escaped unhurt, and 
the last, a boy, was scalped and left for dead, but revived 
and succeeded in making his way to that fort. 

As soon as the disastrous intelligence of Braddock's de- 
struction, reached Annapolis, Governor Sharpe set out for 
Frederick, and on the 17th of July, marched to the west, 
at the head of a body of troops hastily assembled. Private 
subscriptions were opened to defray the expenses. Anna- 
polis and the surrounding country alone raised one thou- 
sand pounds. The militia were called into service, and in 
October, were relieved by a force of volunteers, raised to 
meet the emergency. But the country people still conti- 
nued to come in, as new inroads were constantly taking 
place and many families cut olf. 

Such was the effect of the panic on the militia that when 
Major Prather endeavored to assemble those of the frontier, 
for the purpose of pursuing one of these hostile bands, 
he found it impossible to get them out. Each man upon 
the borders dreaded to leave his house unprotected, lest in 
* Green's Gazette. 



1756.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 135 

his absence, his family should fall a prey to the enemy. 
But from the lower part of Frederick county, which was 
secure from depredations, volunteers under Colonel Ridgely 
and Captain Alexander Beall, with some companies from 
Prince George's county and several from Fredericktown 
itself, hastened to the scene of desolation. They arrived 
too late to punish the savages and could only remain to 
protect the survivors from further inroads. In this disastrous 
year more than twenty plantations were laid waste and 
their occupants massacred or carried into a dreadful cap- 
tivity. So extensively had the fear of the Indians spread, 
that the most improbable rumors were credited. In No- 
vember, it was reported that a body of French and Indians 
were within thirty miles bf Baltimore, and immediately, 
more than two thousand men assembled to oppose their 
advance.* 

The people of Annapolis, far removed as they were from 
the frontiers, caught the infection, and in November began 
to fortify their town. Serious apprehensions were for a 
time entertained that a body of the savages might, in their 
stealthy mode of warfare, marching by night and lying in 
concealment by day, penetrate the intermediate country, sur- 
prise the town, and massacre the inhabitants. However the 
excitement was allayed by the return of several volunteers 
from the west, who reported affairs as in a better condition.! 

In the midst of this panic, the effectiveness of the troops 
on the frontiers was weakened by disputes and dissensions 
between their leaders. Captain Dagworthy, who now com- 
manded the Maryland levies, had been an officer in the 
Canada expedition, during the last war, and held the king's 
commission. Upon entering the Maryland service he still 
laid claim to precedence of rank under his old commission, 
which, as emanating from the king, was considered to con- 
fer a superiority over all colonial commissions. Imme- 
* Green's Gazette. f Annals of Annapolis. 



136 HISTORY OF MARYLA.ND. [1755-6. 

diately after the defeat at Great Meadows, fort Cumberland 
had been erected, in Maryland, where the city of Cumber- 
land now stands, by several independent companies from 
North Carolina and New York; and in November, a small 
body of Maryland recruits under Dagworthy, were placed 
there in garrison by Gov. Sharpe. Dagworthy asserted his 
right of precedence over the other colonial officers at that 
post. He was supported by Gov. Sharpe, who claimed 
the post as a Maryland fort, and subject to his jurisdiction, 
and properly under the command of a Maryland officer : 
while Dinwiddle of Virginia contended, that it was a king's 
fort, and that Dagworthy could not out-rank the field offi- 
cers of the Virginia regiment. The affair was laid before 
Braddock, who decided in favor" of Dagworthy. After the 
defeat and death of that general, the dispute was revived, 
and Lieutenant Colonel Stephen, of the Virginia forces, 
was ordered by his government to see that none of the 
provisions, sent thither by Virginia, should be distributed 
to the Maryland or Carolina companies. But Dagworthy 
refused to permit any interference in his command, claiming 
to out-rank Col. Washington himself: that energetic officer, 
however, having obtained leave of absence, laid the matter 
in person before Gen. Shirley, the commander in chief, then 
at Boston, and in March, 1756, procured an order, settling 
definitively the relative rank of the different claimants.* 
Dagworthy was reduced to the position of provincial cap- 
tain, as holding a commission from the governor of Maryland, 
where no regulars were joined to his force, thus subjecting 
him to all colonial field officers ; and the rio^ht of command 
at fort Cumberland was conferred upon Washington himself. 
Thus ended this vexatious dispute, which by dividing the 
forces at the fort, had rendered them of little service to the 
colonies. 

* Sparks' Life and "Writings of Washington, vol. 2, where the letters 
relating to this dispute are collected. 



ITSe.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 137 

The legislature assembled in February, and immediately 
took into consideration the state of the province. The act 
prohibiting trade with the enemy was revived, and a bill 
framed in contemplation of another, and more formidable 
expedition against their stronghold, in conjunction with 
Virginia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, in pursuance 
of a plan, adopted at a meeting of the governors of those 
provinces, held in the fall succeeding Braddock's defeat. 
On the 22d of March, 1756, the bill was passed. It pro- 
vided for raising a sum of forty thousand pounds, of which 
eleven thousand were to be applied to the erection of a fort 
and several block-houses in the western frontier, and for 
levying, arming, paying and maintaining a body of troops, 
not exceeding two hundred men, to garrison these posts ; 
three thousand pounds were placed in the hands of two 
commissioners, Col. Benjamin Tasker and Charles Carroll, 
to en^aofe the services of the southern Indians, one thou- 
sand pounds were directed to be distributed in bounties of 
ten pounds for each scalp of an hostile Indian, or for each 
prisoner brought in by any inhabitant of the province : and 
twenty-five thousand were reserved for the joint expedition 
in contemplation against fort Duquesne. Messrs. William 
Murdock, James Dick and Daniel Wolstenholme, were ap- 
pointed agents to pay out these several sums, with a com- 
mission of two and one-half per cent, on all disbursements. 
Thirty-four thousand pounds of this sum were raised by 
bills of credit, a system already in full operation in the co- 
lony: but the legislature taught by recent difficulties wisely 
provided at once a sufficient sinking fund, by imposing 
new duties and laying additional internal taxes. Some of 
the features of the bill mark the spirit of the revolution of 
1688, which still lingered in the colony ; but, as if to make 
atonement for the oppression of one class, they asserted 
the liability of all to their own legislative supremacy, and 

subjected even the manors and lands of the lord Proprietary 
12 S 



138 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1756. 

to the common burdens. Another, in the list of twenty- 
two subjects of taxation on which the Assembly thought 
proper to levy, is singular enough to require notice : " On 
all bachelors, of twenty-five years of age and upwards, 
worth one hundred pounds and less than three hundred, a 
duty of five shillings per annum was laid ; and, if worth over 
three hundred pounds — twenty shillings per annum :" and, 
to heighten its efl'ect, this subject of taxation was signifi- 
cantly placed in the list of luxuries, and between the duties 
on ''wines and liquors," and "the billiard table."* 

Fort Cumberland, lying nearly sixty miles be- Defence of 
yond the frontier, was found to afford no protec- ^^® frontiers. 
tion from the savages, and the people had been compelled 
to erect stockades and block-houses, on the verge of the 
settlements, as places of immediate resort and security in 
sudden danger. Under the act which had just passed, 
Governor Sharpe, to remedy this defect, selected a site for 
a new fort, near the present town of Hancock, to be called 
fort Frederick; purchased one hundred and fifty acres of 
land, and, immediately, began, under his personal inspec- 
tion, the erection of a large and durable fortress of stone, 
capable of containing a garrison of three hundred men. 
By the middle of August, the fortifications were far enough 
advanced to aff"ord accommodation to the troops, and were 
immediately garrisoned by a force of two hundred men, 
under the command of Col. Dagworthy. In the mean time 
the Indians had not been idle. Small parties penetrated, 
at night and secretly, into the country, struck a fatal blow, 
and then retired, generally before availing pursuit could be 
made. Their audacity increased with their success ; and a 
party made their way even to the neighborhood of Emmits- 
bursr, somewhat more than sixteen miles from Frederick, 
assailed the settlement, and, after shooting a man named 

* Bacon. From April, 1762, to November, 1763, this tax produced 
£904 Is. 2d. 



1756.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 139 

Alexander McKeasy in his own door, escaped without loss. 
But they were not always so fortunate : the desultory war 
had raised up a number of partizan Indian fighters, the 
most successful and unsparing of whom was Col. Thomas 
Cresap, a man of undaunted courage and skill. On the 
20th of May, 1756, at the head of one hundred men — his 
"red caps" — he overtook a party of Indians, and complete- 
ly routed them with some slaughter ; and, on the 30th of 
June, came suddenly upon another roaming band, and 
also defeated them,* Yet such was the effect produced 
upon the out settlers by these destructive inroads, which it 
was equally impossible to foresee or to prevent, that they 
continued to desert their cabins and clearings, and poured 
in towards the lower country. " The whole settlement of 
Conococheague in Maryland is fled," writes Col. Washing- 
ton, in August, 1756, " and there now remains only two 
families from thence to Fredericktown. That the Mary- 
land settlements are all abandoned is certainly a fact, as I 
have had the accounts transmitted to me by several hands 
and confirmed yesterday (28th) by Henry Brinker, who left 
Monocacy the day before, and who also affirms, that three 
hundred and fifty wagons had passed that place, to avoid 
the enemy, within the space of three days."! 

The neighboring colonies having failed to co-operate 
with Maryland in the proposed expedition, and the season 
having passed for any such attempt, the legislature was 
again convened in September, and hastened to devote the 
amount of twenty-five thousand pounds, laid aside for the 
purpose, to other and more pressing objects of service 
Five thousand pounds were appropriated to raising and 
maintaining three hundred men for the royal American 
regiment, and to furnish a supply of wheat for Lord Lou- 
don's troops at New York, three thousand pounds for boun- 
ties for scalps or prisoners, taken by persons not in the pay 
* Green's Gazette. t Sparks, vol. 2, p. 183. 



140 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1756. 

of the province, and tluee thousand five hundred pounds 
for forming a company of one hundred men, to be incor- 
porated with the battalion already under the command of 
Col. Da,gworthy, at fort Frederick. One-third of this force 
was required to be constantly on duty, as rangers, on the 
frontier for the protection of the inhabitants : and to in- 
crease their activity, in addition to their pay, each soldier, 
wiio while on this duty took a scalp or a prisoner, was 
allowed a bounty of thirty pounds. Additional appropria- 
tions were made towards completing fort Frederick, for 
purchasing arms and ammunition, and erecting a magazine, 
and, to reimburse the governor the expense of maintaining 
the rangers, whom he had employed on the frontier, during 
the preceding spring.* 

Provision having thus been made for defence, the confi- 
dence of the people to the westward was somewhat restored, 
although the settlements were not fully re-occupied until 
the close of the war. Even in 1761, several years after 
the reduction of fort Duquesne, the people of the western 
portion of Frederick county, when desirous of building a 
bridge on the road from Conococheaffue to Pittsburor at a 
cost of only forty pounds, were compelled to have recourse 
to the county court for assistance from the general assess- 
ment, assigning as their reason that the country was thinned 
of its inhabitants, that the settlers who had removed on 
account of the war had not yet returned to their dwellings, 
and that the few who remained were unable to bear the 
charge ; while the work was absolutely required by the 
public service, being on the route by which supplies were 
carried to the royal troops at fort Pitt.f Indeed, it was 
impossible to form a complete cordon of defence across the 
frontier ; for small parties of the enemy would easily make 
their way into the settlements, strike a successful blow and 
retreat in safety before the rangers could come to the rescue. 
* Bacon. t Jud- ^^ec. L. L. p. 840— Fred. Co. 



1757.] HISTORY OP MARYLAND 141 

The inhabitants, at the breaking out of hostilities were, to 
a great extent unpracticed in Indian warfare, and, there- 
fore, fell an easy prey to their vigilant and unsparing enemy. 
Elated by their bloody victory on the Monongahela, in 
which they had almost annihilated a force of three times 
their number, composed of chosen troops under a British 
general, they boasted that at length they were about to drive 
the invaders from the graves of their forefathers and recover 
their ancient hunting grounds. From the Miami, the Ohio, 
and the borders of the lakes, their war parties concentrated 
at fort Duquesne, to pour out upon the extended frontiers, 
sometimes in parties strong enough to take the smaller 
fortresses by storm, but generally numbering but two or 
three, striking unexpectedly into the settlements, burning 
the farm houses, killing or capturing the inhabitants thus 
taken by surprise, and hurrying away as rapidly with their 
booty.* But the borderers soon began to learn their mode 
of warfare and to prepare for it; and aided by the rangers 
and the garrisons of the forts, and protected by their own 
rude block-houses, made successful defence against their 
inroads. 

In the ensuing April, the Assembly was convened at 
Baltimore, and further provisions were made for the secu- 
rity of the frontiers. A portion of the first appropriation 
being still unexpended, and the sum of three thousand 
pounds, intended to secure the services of the southern 
Indians yet unapplied, the whole, amounting to more than 
ten thousand pounds, was devoted to increasing the forces 
in the west to five hundred men : and, to promote the 
recruiting service, those who enlisted were exempted from 
levy and other charges for three years, and the maimed and 
disabled were promised an annual pension for their sup- 
port.! Finding that every effort at a combined expedition 
had failed the year before, the government now sought only 
* Narrative of Col. James Smith. f Bacon. 



142 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1757. 

to defend its own frontier; and, during the season, suc- 
ceeded in securinor the services of a band of Cherokee 
Indians to aid in that object. 

The enemy were not long in recommencing their assaults. 
In June, it was reported that a large body of French and 
Indians, with heavy cannon, were marching against fort 
Cumberland to besiege it. Gov. Sharpe instantly set out 
for Frederick, accompanied by a number of volunteers, to 
gather troops and relieve the menaced post; there, however, 
a subsequent express informed him that it was only a small 
party of about three hundred men, without artillery, and, 
fully confident in the ability of the troops already on the 
frontier, aided by the Cherokees, to prevent their ravages, he 
returned to Annapolis after a week's absence. The enemy, 
however, had no design upon the fort ; they separated into 
small parties, as was their wont, and broke into the settle- 
ments — principally of Virginia. A few attempted to ravage 
Maryland, but were overtaken and several of them killed by 
the friendly Cherokees, who rendered important services to 
the colony. In addition to the troops already on the fron- 
tier, Capts. Butler's, Middagh's, and Luckett's, companies 
of militia were ordered to relieve the garrison of fort Fred- 
erick then under the command of Capt. Beale. During their 
tour of duty, they acted with spirit, and prevented the rav- 
ages of three different parties of the enemy, who attempted 
to break in upon the settlements. Besides furnishing this 
garrison for fort Frederick, the people of Frederick county 
raised two hundred men, who, in August, marched under 
Gov. Sharpe in person to strengthen that fortress and to 
garrison fort Cumberland ; where in the ensuing month, 
ihey were joined by a company of volunteers from Cecil 
county, under Captain Jesse Hollingsworth.* 

Fort Cumberland, so long the subject of dispute between 
the governors of Maryland and Virginia, and maintained 
* Green's Gazette. 



1757.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 143 

by the latter against the strong wishes of Col. Washington, 
was now finally given up to Maryland, by the order of Lord 
Loudon, and was destined henceforth to be garrisoned by 
Maryland troops. It soon became a source of discord in 
another quarter.* In October, Gov. Sharpe applied to the 
legislature for means to support the garrison which he had 
placed there. The Assembly, averse to maintaining a force 
too far beyond the frontiers, to protect the inhabitants, 
replied with warmth, that they had been stationed there 
contrary to the intention of the act by which they had been 
raised, and if evil consequences arose from want of supplies, 
the blame must rest upon the heads of those, who had taken 
the responsibility of placing them there without warrant of 
law. As the step had been taken by order of Lord Loudon, 
they denied his authority to control the forces raised and 
paid by the colony without their consent; whereupon that 
nobleman wrote to Gov. Sharpe, protesting against this 
doctrine, as without precedent, and peculiar to Maryland 
alone. Gov. Dinwiddie likewise pronounced it " inconsist- 
ent and unmannerly, in the Maryland Assembly, to make 
any hesitation, or to dispute his lordship's power." But 
the Assembly had been too long accustomed to a sturdy 
maintenance of their rights, to yield to the protests or 
abuse of British lords or royal governors. 

But this limited and petty warfare of posts and defensive 
expeditions, while it exhausted the force of the colony, 
could produce no permanent results. The neighboring 
provinces of Virginia and Pennsylvania, with far more ex- 
tensive borders to protect, had suffered more severely than 
Maryland, and the governments of the three colonies, at 
length, became fully convinced that the readiest and most 
effectual mode of protecting their frontiers was the expul- 
sion of the enemy from his stronghold. Early in 1758, an- 
other expedition against fort Duquesne was determined on. 

* Sparks. ' 



144 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1758. 

Lord Loudon having returned to England at ^^^^^ of 
the close of the last campaign, the command of 
the British forces in the middle and southern colonies, was 
committed to Gen. Forbes ; and it was hoped by the colo- 
nies that active and energetic measures would now be 
taken. Virginia, which was principally interested, had 
already one regiment in the field, and had directed the 
formation of another. The forces of Maryland, amounting 
to five hundred men, under Col. Dagworthy, held its fron- 
tier from fort Frederick, aided by their Indian allies. In 
the Assembly, which met at Annapolis, in March, 1758, 
an effort was made to bring a still larger force into the 
field. But Maryland was once more, to a certain extent, 
secure. The old controversies between the upper and 
lower houses, recommenced, and the delegates once more 
asserted and sturdily adhered to the demands, which during 
the perils of the three preceding years, they had allowed 
to slumber. In April, the House framed a bill for the sup- 
plies required to raise one thousand men, and among other 
property, imposed taxes upon the Proprietary's quit rer\s 
and estates, on the salaries and emoluments of public ofn- 
cers, and the usual double tax upon the lands of those who 
refused to take the test oath and the oath of supremacy ;* 
and claimed the sole right of originating and amending 
money bills. The upper house protested against these 
taxes as unjust, and contended that the claim of the lower 
house was arbitrary and unconstitutional. But the Dele- 
gates were immovable. Rather than submit, the govern- 
ment abandoned all hopes of further supplies, and Colonel 
Dagworthy and his troops were ordered to join the expedi- 
tion as the quota of Maryland. To supply garrisons for the 
fortresses thus left vacant by the departure of Dagworthy's 
men, Governor Sharpe called out the western militia for a 
time, and marched at their head to fort Cumberland, of 
* For these oaths see Bacon, 1716, ch, 5. 



1758.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 145 

which post he took command as soon as Col. Washington 
with his regiment joined the main army at Raystown. 
During the continuance of the governor at the fort, the 
army suifered a serious loss of ammunition from the blow- 
ing up of the magazine.* 

Although it was desirable that the campaign should open 
early in the season, the Virginia troops did not reach fort 
Cumberland, their place of rendezvous, till July. They 
were, then, occupied in cutting a road from that post to 
Raystown, where the advance of the army was stationed 
under Col. Bouquet — Gen. Forbes being detained by sick- 
ness at Carlisle. As if to increase these delays and render 
the expedition abortive, the English officers, in spite of the 
remonstrances of Col, Washington, determined to make a 
new road to fort Duquesne, instead of taking the route of 
General Braddock. It was already late in the season, the 
enemy were daily strengthening their forces, and it was 
feared that winter would overtake the army in the moun- 
tains. The worst results were foreboded. 
Grant's De- ^^^ September, an advanced body had reached 

^•^^^^ Loyal Hanning, about ten miles beyond Laurel 
Hill; and, towards the close of the month, Major Grant 
was detached to reconnoitre, with a select corps of more 
than eight hundred men, consisting of three hundred and 
thirty Highlanders, one hundred and fourteen royal Ameri- 
cans, one hundred and seventy-six Virginians, ninety-five 
Maryland, one hundred and twelve Pennsylvania, and thir- 
teen Carolina troops. t In the night, he took post upon a 
hill, about eighty rods from fort Duquesne, unobserved by 
the French, and in the morning, by way of bravado, beat 
the reveille and sounded the bagpipes in several places. 
As soon as the English were discovered, the Indians sallied 
out from the fort, and, having under cover of the river banks, 
reached a height that overlooked Grant's position, surround- 

* Sparks. f Green's Gazette. 

13 T 



146 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. H^oS. 

ed him and commenced the attack.* The Highlanders, 
drawn out in close array, were slaughtered almost unresist- 
ingly, by the deadly fire of the enemy, and at length gave 
way ; while the Maryland troops, to whom were joined the 
Carolinians, took cover in bushes and behind trees, and 
keeping the enemy at bay, sustained the action. The 
Pennsylvanians broke at the first fire. The Virginians, 
under Major Lewis of Col. Washington's regiment, had 
been detached two miles to the rear to guard the baggage ; 
as soon as the action began, they hastened up to the assist- 
ance of Grant, but were unable to maintain their ground.t 
The English were defeated with a loss of two hundred and 
seventy-three killed and forty-two wounded ; Majors Grant 
and Lewis, and many of their men were taken prisoners. 
The Marylanders, behaved with great gallantry, and, al- 
though they suffered severely, succeeded in covering the 
retreat of the remainder of the troops. Out of ninety-five 
men their loss was twenty-three privates and one officer, 
Lieut. Duncan McRae, killed and missing ; and seventeen 
wounded — nearly one-half their whole force. Capt. Ware, 
Lieut. Riley, and Ensign Harrison, with fifty privates made 
good their retreat.! The loss of the enemy was trifling. 

This defeat, so similar to the disaster of Braddock, in- 
duced the Indians to believe that the remainder of Forbes' 
army would retreat, as the force under Col. Dunbar had 
done on the like occasion. A large portion of them, accord- 
ingly left the fort and returned to their hunting grounds, 
with their prisoners and plunder, in spite of the solicitations 
of the French to remain. § This was a fortunate circum- 
stance for the success of the expedition. Forbes' army 
was still toiling on its way, liable to be taken at disad- 
vantage by a strong force, and did not reach the post at 
Loyal Hanning until the fifth of November, nearly a month 
after the battle. Here the recent defeat, and the lateness 
* Smith's Narrative, t (Green's Gazette. | Ibid. § Smith's Narrative. 



1759.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 147 

of the season, had nearly produced the results expected by 
the Indians. A council of war was held, which determined 
that it was unadvisable to proceed farther during the present 
campaign. In the meanwhile, the enemy, who had care- 
fully watched the march of the army, thinking it a favor- 
able moment to make another fortunate blow and complete 
their victory, detached a body of troops with the Indians 
yet remaining at the fort, to the number of one thousand 
men, and attacked Col. Bouquet, with great spirit at Loyal 
Manning, on the 12th of October. After four hours of hard 
fighting, they were repulsed: but during the whole ensuing 
night, kept up an occasional fire upon the works. Before 
day however, they retreated, carrying with them their killed 
and wounded, thus concealing their loss in the action : 
that of the English was sixty-seven rank and file killed and 
wounded. In this affair, the Maryland troops had one offi- 
cer, Lieut. Prather, and two privates, killed : Ensign Bell, 
and six privates, wounded, and eleven missing. 

Still the savages hovered around the army. On the 12th 
of November, near Loyal Manning, Col. Washington, with 
a scouting party, fell in with a detachment of the enemy 
and a skirmish ensued. A second party of Virginians, 
coming to their assistance, in the heavy mist were mistaken 
for a body of the foe, and a fire given upon them and re- 
turned before the unfortunate error was discovered. Capt. 
Evan Shelby, of Frederick county, who commanded a 
company of Maryland volunteers, in this skirmish, killed 
with his own hand one of the leading chiefs of the enemy.* 
After these disastrous actions, the hostile Indians aban- 
dojied their allies and left the fort, saying, that it was an 
easy matter to deal with the regulars, but impossible to 
withstand the provincials. 
Capture of Reanimated by success and learning the deser- 

Fort Du- . o , T • n • 1 L 

quesne. tion of the Indians, from a prisoner taken by 
• Green's Gazette ; Bacon. 



148 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1758. 

Captain Ware of the Maryland troops, the English deter- 
mined to prosecute their attempt. At length, taught by 
experience the inefficiency of regulars in such a service, 
they threw Col. Washington in advance, and succeeded, 
on the 22d of November, after a painful march, in reaching 
fort Duquesne, which the French, hopeless of maintaining 
Avith their diminished garrison, after setting it on fire, had 
abandoned the night before. The works were immediately 
repaired, the place renamed fort Pitt, and a garrison of two 
hundred men, drawn from the Pennsylvania, Maryland and 
Virginia troops, assigned for its defence.* 

The capture of this fortress, the centre from which so 
many predatory expeditions had gone forth, filled the colo- 
nies with joy. Gov. Sharpe, by proclamation, appointed a 
day for public thanksgiving and praise ; and the Assembly, 
to testify their gratitude to the brave men who had served 
in their forces, appropriated fifteen hundred pounds to be 
distributed as a gratuity among them : — to Lieut. Colonel 
Dagworthy i630 — to each captain £16, lieutenant £12, en- 
sign £9, and non-commissioned officer £6 : and the re- 
mainder to be expended in the purchase of clothing and 
suitable necessaries to be divided among the privates. From 
this time forth, Maryland had little concern in the war — 
although its rangers — numbering two hundred and thirty 
men — were engaged in the expedition against the Shawa- 
nese towns — perhaps the only aifair of moment, after the 
capture of fort Duquesne. Occasional bands of Indians 
passed fort Pitt, and committed depredations upon the 
frontiers, but the hardy settlers were now fully able to pro- 
tect themselves, and the principal features of its history 
are of a pacific and legislative character. Yet that legisla- 
tive history is full of interest, for it led eventually to the 
revolution. It was a continuous stru^orle for the rights of 
the commons. 

* Green's Gazette. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE PAYS BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 
1758 — 1774. 

Jb ROM the earliest period, a contest had been waged, in 
Maryland, between the two principles contained in the 
charter ; and the result of that contest, in every stage, had 
been a further and broader development of the democratic 
and a diminution of the aristocratic. The germs of both 
were fully contained in that instrument; but the spirit of 
the people and the necessities of the times, tended con- 
stantly to the vigorous growth of the one, and the utter 
destruction of the other. This contest was now rapidly 
verging to its final issue. 

The representatives of the people, who sat in the lower 
house, insisted upon an exclusive right to frame and amend 
bills for raising money ; the upper house — which was sim- 
ply the council of the governor, and, with him, the repre- 
sentative of the Proprietary, by whom they were appointed 
— claimed for themselves a share in the imposition of taxes. 
Whilst immediate danger impended over the colony, in 
1756, the commons had permitted their claim to slumber, 
that the public safety might be secured ; but, now that the 
war had been removed from their borders, they planted 
themselves firmly upon their old position, and remonstrance 
and petition, from the friends of the Proprietary, and com- 
mands, from the crown, were alike disregarded. Fully con- 
curring in the necessity of conquering Canada, in order to 
secure peace to the colonies, at each session they passed 
bills to afford aid and assistance to the royal arms, but in 
every instance, from their unwavering adherence to their 

position, the bills failed to become laws. Nine times in 
13* 149 



150 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1760-63. 

succession did they thus adopt a bill similar to that rejected 
in 1758, and as often was it negatived by the upper house. 
The opinion of His Majesty's attorney general, Pratt, was 
in vain brought before them to induce them to yield : they 
claimed that they were the sole representatives of the peo- 
ple, and that "the people could only be taxed by their own 
consent." It was impossible to subdue their firmness. 
The other colonies murmured, and the English government 
became indignant, at the repeated refusals of Maryland to 
aid the royal arms. The statesmen of England, at length, 
satisfied that it was impossible to compel the colonies to 
tax themselves by means of royal requisitions, determined 
to have recourse to indirect taxation. 

Peace was declared in 1763 ; and the French colonies 
were ceded to England. She possessed the whole northern 
continent ; but to counterbalance this acquisition, she found 
herself laboring under a heavy debt, contracted during the 
war. She had, already encroached upon the rights of the 
colonies, by compelling them to furnish requisitions — resist- 
ed by Maryland alone — and, finding these insufficient to 
meet her wants, she prepared herself to advance one step 
further in their complete subjugation. They were rich and 
populous, and firmly attached to liberty ; and freedom on 
the one part, and supremacy on the other, were prizes 
worth struofCTlinop for. 

The condition of Maryland was prosperous, in spite of 
the ravages it had suffered during the war. Its popula- 
tion, in 1761, amounted to 164,007 persons, of whom 
114,332 were whites, and 49,675 blacks, principally slaves. 
Although possessed of few manufactures, save that of iron, 
which even then produced annually 2,500 tons of pig-iron 
and 500 tons of bar iron, the greatness of its resources 
were undisputed. Its people were frugal and industrious, 
they had spread themselves almost to the utmost limits of 
the province ; and, peculiarly fitted for commerce and na- 



1763.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 151 

vigation, with most of its territory within thirty miles of 
streams navigable for boats, its soil rich, and exuberantly 
productive to the labor of the husbandman and planter, it 
needed only the hand of independence to make it a 
powerful, flourishing, and sovereign state. Such was the 
spectacle that met the eyes of England, ever casting about 
for something to prey upon, and the result of the scrutiny 
was the passage of the stamp act. 

The Stamp Under pretence that the government had as- 
^^^' sumed large burdens in their defence, and the 
apparent obligation on their part, to bear a portion, Lord 
Grenville, in 1763, notified the agents of the colonies, in 
London, that, at the ensuing session of parliament, he in- 
tended to propose a duty on stamps for the purpose of 
raising a revenue from the provinces, at the same time 
giving them the privilege, of suggesting, as a substitute, any 
other mode of parliamentary taxation, that would be more 
agreeable to them. In the session which followed, a reso- 
lution to the same effect was adopted, but the ministry did 
not yet venture to take the final step. They were prepar- 
ing the way. The restrictions on colonial trade were tight- 
ened, and a lucrative commerce with the Spanish and 
French islands was entirely cut off. The indignation of the 
people was aroused ; they saw at once that England de- 
signed depriving them of their liberties, and making them 
the mere subjects of the British parliament. "Assemblies 
remonstrated, public meetings denounced, and agents peti- 
tioned. The measure was resolved upon, and, on the 22d 
of March, 1765, the Stamp Act was finally imposed."* 
The interval of two years, which had been intended as a 
preparation of the minds of the people for submission, only 
enabled them to orather their enero-ies for universal resist- 
ance, in the open manifestation of which, it is true, Massa- 
chusetts and Virginia took the lead, from the advantage of 

* McMahon, 332. 



152 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1763-5. 

opportunity, though, in unanimity, firmness and success 
Maryland surpassed them all. It is its proud boast that its 
soil was never polluted by the obnoxious stamps. Every 
where the utmost indignation was excited ; the columns 
of the Maryland Gazette teemed with articles assailing 
the measure. Pamphlets were issued, public appeals were 
made, and the minds of the whole people of the province, 
were arrayed firmly against it. The other colonies express- 
ed their opposition by remonstrances and protests through 
their legislative bodies ; if Maryland did not at once speak 
out through the same channel, it was because the Assembly 
was prorogued from 1763, until Sept. 1765, and it could 
only have recourse to the pen, the press, and open violence. 
But at the session of Sept. 1765, the earliest opportunity 
which was presented, the Assembly solemnly protested 
against the measure, and indignantly complained, that thus 
for two years they had been deprived of the power of pub- 
licly declaring their lasting opposition. Ere that period 
arrived, the people of the colony had already vindicated 
their rights, in a more summary manner. 

Zachariah Hood, a native of Maryland and a Rggigjanc 
merchant at Annapolis, was appointed, in the to it in Ma- 
summer of 1765, stamp distributor for the pro- 
vince. He brought with him from England a cargo of 
goods, together with the obnoxious stamps. When he 
arrived in the harbor of Annapolis, the ferment reached its 
height. The people gathered in crowds at the dock, deter- 
mined to prevent his landing: an outbreak ensued, in 
which one of their number, Thomas McNeir, had his thigh 
broken, and Hood, at the very seat of government, was 
compelled to draw off from the shore and effect a landing, 
clandestinely, at another time and place. No sooner had 
the tidings of his arrival spread through the country, than 
the people gathered into the city, and prepared to show 
their utter detestation of the man who could consent to 



1"65.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. ^'53 

become the instrument of foreign tyranny in enslaving the 
liberty of his country. , The effigy of the stamp distributor 
was mounted on a one horse cart, with sheets of paper in 
its hands, and paraded through the streets amidst the exe- 
crations of the crowds, while the bells tolled continually a 
solemn knell. The procession marched to the hill, tied the 
effigy to the whipping-post, and bestowed upon it nine- 
and-thirty lashes, which the crowd humorously called giving 
" the Mosaic law" to the stamp distributor. It was then 
hung upon a gibbet, erected for the purpose, a tar barrel 
placed under it and set on fire, whence it ignited, and at 
length, fell into the blaze below and was consumed. Sim- 
ilar was the exhibition of popular feeling in Baltimore, 
Frederick, Elkridge, and other towns.* 

But the punishment of Hood did not stop with his 
degradation. He offered the large stock of goods, which 
he had imported at reduced prices, to buy the favor of 
the people ; they not only refused to purchase them, but 
carried their resentment to such a pitch, as to tear down a 
house which he was preparing for the reception of his 
merchandise, lest he should make it the place of deposit for 
his stamps. At last, they threatened him with personal vio- 
lence. Trembling for his life, he took refuge in the govern- 
or's house ; but soon finding that even there he could obtain 
no protection, he fled in despair, from the province, and did 
not pause in his flight, until he had found an asylum, in 
New York, under the guns of fort St. George. His evil 
fate still pursued him ; and, as the governor of Maryland 
dared not protect him in his palace, so he found no safety 
even under the guns of a British fortress. Determined to 
I vindicate the honor of their native province, and to punish 
a son who had taken part against her, a number of daring 
patriots followed! him to Long Island, seized him in the 
midst of his fancied security, and gave him the alternative 
* Annals of Annapolis, 90, &c. f Grahame, vol. i, 397. 



154 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1'765. 

of resigning his office and renouncing and abjuring, under 
oath, its exercise forever, or of being conducted back to 
Maryland, with labels descriptive of his office affixed upon 
his back, and delivered up to the just indignation of the 
people. Hood prayed, protested, and sought to compro- 
mise ; but the patriots were inexorable. Then he yielded. 
His abjuration was fully made out and sworn to before a 
justice at Jamaica, and, having become powerless and 
despicable, he was set at large. 

Thus when the Assembly met, in September, _, , .. 

J ^ tr ' Declaration 

they found the w^ork of resistance complete; and of the as- 
it only remained for them solemnly to declare ^^"^ ^' 
their rights, which had thus been vindicated by the people, 
by measures, in which the first men of the province had 
borne an open part. No deliberation was needed, for there 
was no difference of opinion. Many of the delegates, in- 
deed had been instructed by their constituents, and, thus 
supported by the expressed will and the open acts of the 
people, there was neither pause nor hesitation. They im- 
mediately acted upon a circular, which Massachusetts had 
addressed to the colonies, proposing the meeting of a con- 
gress of deputies; and on the second day of the session, 
concurred in the suggestion, and appointed, as the repre- 
sentatives of Maryland, Col. Edward Tilghman, William 
Murdock and Thomas Ringgold, who received instructions 
in which they were expressly directed to take care, that 
any representation or petition, prepared by the congress to 
be presented to the English government, should contain an 
assertion of the absolute right of the colonies to be free 
from taxation " save by their own consent, or that of their 
representatives, freely chosen and appointed."* 

And now, in behalf of the people of Maryland, they pro- 
ceeded to make a solemn declaration, which stood promi- 
nent even in that day of protests and resolutions, and placed 
* Votes and Proceedings, 1765, p. 7. 



1765.J HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 155 

the rights of the province upon abroad and incontrovertible 
ground. On the last day of that short but glorious ses- 
sion of only five days, they unanimously resolved, that the 
early settlers of Maryland had brought with them all the 
rights of British subjects, who could not be taxed but by 
their own consent; that, by the charter of Maryland, these 
rights had been fully secured to them, and strengthened by 
the express renunciation, therein made, of the power of the 
crown to tax the people of the province : that the trial by 
jury was their birth right — protesting against the establish- 
ment of any other tribunal — and, finally, that the people of 
Maryland always enjoyed the right of being governed by 
laws to which they themselves had assented, that, as they 
were not represented in the British parliament, the legis- 
lature of the province alone had the power to impose taxes, 
and, therefore, that taxes, laid under color of any other 
authority, were unconstitutional, and an infringement of 
their rights.* Having thus rendered this session, as it were, 
sacred to liberty, they entered into no other business and, 
refusing to give the governor the advice, he required, con- 
cerning the disposition of the stamp paper which was daily 
expected to arrive in the province, they were prorogued to 
meet in November followinor. 

Daniel Du- The Proprietary government, feeling its rights 
lany. infringed on by the stamp act, yielded but a faint 
assistance to the ministry in carrying the scheme into effect ; 
and Gov. Sharpe, after the commons had refused to inter- 
fere, upon the recommendation of the upper house who 
represented that if the stamps were landed they would cer- 
tainly be destroyed, determined to deposit them, until fur- 
ther orders from England, in one of the royal cruisers sta- 
tioned on the Virginia coast. In the meanwhile, the war 
of words went on. Daniel Dulany, a man eminent for 
learning afid ability, and distinguished as a lawyer, pub- 
* Votes and Proceedings H. D,, Sept. 1765, p. 10. 



15(i HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1765. 

iished a pamphlet, which was universally acknowledged to 
be one of the best defences of the rights of the people 
which appeared during the controversy. In this work he 
reviewed the whole ground, and concluded with an appeal 
to the people to produce manufactures for themselves, and 
compel their antagonists to yield, by striking at their in- 
terests. Yet whilst he thus defended the cause, he disap- 
proved of the proceedings of " the sons of liberty," in which 
some of the most active and distinguished men of Maryland 
had taken part. The course of Daniel Dulany, upon this 
subject, is a strong testimony of the secret hostility to the 
measure of the Proprietary party of which he was an adhe- 
rent; when, however, the question was made of the rights 
of the Proprietary against the people, and finally of inde- 
pendence, which must destroy those rights entirely, Daniel 
Dukny was found in the ranks of those who vainly attempt- 
ed to stay the torrent of popular progress and to sustain the 
tottering power of the Proprietary and the crown. 

The colonial Congress met at New York on the first 
Tuesday of October, 1765 : all the representatives of Ma- 
ryland were present at this body, which proceeded to pre- 
pare an address to the crown, a petition to parliament, and 
a declaration of the rights and grievances of the people. 
Their proceedings were submitted to the Assembly of Mary- 
land, at its next session in November, and were unanimous- 
ly approved by the House, which passed a vote of thanks 
to their commissioners for the able manner in which they 
had performed their duty, and at their May session, 1766, 
caused the Journal of the congress to be printed with their 
own. Fearful lest an insidious attempt should be made to 
bind the consciences of the judges, magistrates, and other 
provincial officers, the House, immediately on the opening 
of the November session, upon adopting the usual rules for 
their government, directed that the committee on grievances 
should likewise act as a committee on courts of justice ; 



* 



\ 



1765.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. l^* 

and instructed the members to "observe the nature of all 
the commissions to the several courts of judicature within 
the province, and, especially, to observe any alterations that 
may at any time happen by accidental omission, or other- 
wise, therein; and particularly relating to such words there- 
in, as require the several judges and justices to hear, try, 
and determine, according to the laws, statutes, ordinances, 
and reasonable customs o^ England ^nd. of these provinces" 
—and instantly to report the same to the Assembly. The 
committee was also directed to examine the oaths of office 
taken by the magistrates : and the House declared, as a 
necessary portion of these oaths, the following clause: "To 
do equal law and right to all the king's subjects, rich or 
poor; and not to delay any person of common right, for 
the letters of the king, the lord Proprietary, or for any other 
cause; but if any such letters come to them, they shall pro- 
ceed to do the law, the same letters notwithstanding."'^ It 
is not improbable that these provisions were, to a certain 
extent, aimed against the enforcement of the stamp act. 

America had been compared to a conquered country ; 
the House declared that Maryland could not be so consid- 
ered, that the inhabitants had planted themselves there, 
with the permission of the crown, and had become pros- 
perous, with the blessing of God, by their own labor; and 
unanimously resolved, that those who asserted that they 
had forfeited any part of their English liberties, were not 
well wishers to their country and mistook its constitution. 
They, likewise, declared that the "province hath always, 
hitherto had the common law, and such general statutes of 
England, as are securative of the rights and liberties of the 
subject, and such acts of Assembly as were made in the 
province to suit its particular constitution, as,the rule and 
standard of its government and judicature:" and intimated 
that by these alone should the judges, and magistrates and 
•= Votes and Proceedings H. D., 1765, November session. 

14 



■ ^ 



158 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1'765. 

Other officers be guided. These resolutions, the unanimous 
expression of the representatives of the people, afford a 
distinct indication of the popular feeling. They, however, 
fall short of its depth and excitability, which was called 
forth by the slightest opposition on the part of the upper 
house and governor, to the acts of the lower house.* 

Many of the debts incurred during the late war, still 
remained unpaid, and not a few unascertained ; some of 
which were claims for money advanced to fit out or supply 
their companies, by the different officers — among whom 
were Capt. Evan Shelby — to whose services the House bore 
ample testimony — Captains Ware and Price, — afterwards, 
officers of Smallwood's battalion, — Capt. Joshua Beall, and 
Lieut. Rezin Beall, afterwards brigadier general of the Ma- 
ryland troops of the flying camp. At November session, 
a resolution was passed for the payment of those claims 
which had been adjusted, together with the journal of 
accounts. The upper house rejected the resolution, on the 
ground that there were some, equally deserving, whose de- 
mands had not been included, and suggested certain allow- 
ances for the clerks of council, and others. • The lower 
house aofreed to all these items save those claimed for the 
clerks of the council, and refused to separate the journal 
of accounts from the list of debts. A warm controversy 
ensued between the two houses : in the mean while, the 
claims of all concerned were postponed. 

The people of the west were principally interested, and 
there the deepest feeling was aroused — excited, according 
to the assertions of Gov. Sharpe, by the efforts of Colonel 
Thomas Cresap, a member from Frederick county, who was 
reported to have said, that nothing would be done unless 
the people took it in hands. They gathered in force at 
Frederick, to the number of three or four hundred men, 
armed with rifles and tomahawks, proceeded to elect officers 
* Votes and Proceedings. 



1765.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 159 

and declared their intention to march by companies, to 
Annapolis, and settle the disputes between the two houses. 
The inhabitants of Elkridge pursued a similar course and 
despatched two magistrates to Annapolis, with the signifi- 
cant threat that according to the tenor of the express they 
should receive from the capital, a number of men would or 
would not be in sight of that place in two days time. 
These ominous facts were communicated to the House, by 
Gov. Sharpe, with the recommendation to consider seriously 
the evil consequence of large bodies of people assembling 
to overawe either branch of the leofislature. The House 
replied with assurances that every proper step should be 
taken to prevent such results, at the same timer defending 
Col. Cresap, until evidence should be brought against him. 
The session lasted but ten days longer, which were spent 
in a war of lengthy messages with no result, but that of 
postponing the question to the ensuing session. 

The associators, — -for the armed men who had thus as- 
sembled had bound themselves together by written pledges 
— declared, in a petition prepared for presentation to the 
lower house, " their satisfaction at the conduct of that body 
in opposing the stamp act," intimated a ''reliance that they 
would endeavor like the renowned ancient ti'ue Roman 
Senate, to suppress any future attempt to deprive them of 
their liberty ;" and requested that they might be informed, 
if the upper house persisted in its unjust pretensions ''in 
order that the siorners miofht come down and cause justice 
to take place." Their zeal, however, seems to have been 
moderated, by the more prudent of the popular party, and 
the session passed off without any further demonstration. 
The controversy was not settled until December, 1766, 
when a committee of conference was appointed and a 
compromise effected. 
Arrival ofthe '^^^ Stamp paper having at length arrived at 

Stamps. Newcastle on the Delaware, in October, 1765, on 



160 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1765. 

board His Majesty's ship Sardoine, commanded by Captain 
Hawker, the governor, unwilling to enforce the obnoxious 
law, and desiring to screen himself behind the lower house, 
again demanded some expression of opinion on their part, 
as to its disposal. They persisted in their refusal to give 
it: and by the advice of the council, he directed Captain 
Hawker to retain it on board his ship. To the commands 
of the English secretary to execute the law at all hazards, 
he replied that it was impossible without the aid of a strong 
military force ; and that the peace of the colony had hither- 
to, only been preserved by the cautious measures he had 
adopted. Knowing that a considerable time must elapse 
before further orders could arrive, or troops be sent, the 
governor hoped to weather the storm, without exciting the 
hostility of either party. But a new difficulty arose ; and 
he was constrained to extend his conciliating policy still 
further. 

The law had made stamps necessary in many ^j^^ ^^^ ^^ 
transactions: for a time, therefore, a partial ces- ciareduncon- 
sation of business ensued. But the obstacle was 
soon overcome : and Frederick county court had the high 
honor of first decidino-, in a leofal manner, the unconstitu- 
tionality of the stamp act.* This decision was received 
with joy : and the people hastened to celebrate so important 
and significant an event. The festival took place in Fred- 
erick, on the 30th of November, 1765. " The sons of 
liberty," in funeral procession, in honor of the death of the 
Stamp Act, marched through the streets, bearing a coffin, 
on which was inscribed: "The Stamp Act, expired of a 
mortal stab received from the Genius of Liberty, in Frederick 
comity court, 23g? JS^ovember, 1765, aged 22 days.'^ Zachariah 
Hood, the late unfortunate stamp distributor, was chief 
mourner, in effigy, and the whole affair ended merrily in a 
ball. In the public offices, at Annapolis, however, business 

* McMahon, 359. 



17G6.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 161 

Still continued to be interrupted for the want of stamps, 
the time serving officers hesitating to treat the law as a 
nullity and fearing to attempt its enforcement. This in- 
convenience the people determined to remedy; and, in 
February, 1766, the inhabitants of Baltimore and the adjoin- 
ing country formed themselves into an association of " the 
Sons of Liberty" — a society for the maintenance of the 
rights of the people — and adjourned to meet at the capital, 
to put an end to this abuse. The public officers were very 
politely notified of their coming, and requested to be in 
readiness to receive them. On the first of March, they as- 
sembled according to adjournment, and presented them a 
petition, requesting them to resume their business, by the 
31st of March. The timid officials temporized : and the 
sons of liberty adjourned to meet again, having called on 
their brethren in the counties to assemble with them. On 
the 3d of April, they came together in great strength, and 
laid their petition before the general court. At first, they 
met with a refusal. They, again, " earnestly insisted and 
demanded, with united hearts and voices,"' in terms, to 
which resistance was no longer possible. Then the court 
yielded, perhaps, not unwillingly, and the public officers 
followed their example. Business was again resumed, as 
if the British parliament had never thrown an obstacle in 
its way ; and the stamp act, the offspring of its power, 
though still unrepealed, had ceased to exist even indirectly 
in Maryland. 

Its repeal I^^ ^^^® i^ ^^e province, foreshadowed its down- 
J^^* fall in England. The opposition, hoping to gain 
strength in their party contests, united with the friends of 
the colonies, in assailinof and overthrowinor the administra- 
tion that had obtained its passage. Pitt brought his elo- 
quence to their assistance in parliament, and, on the 18th of 
March, 1766, that obnoxious act, long since dead in all the 

colonies, and never enforced in Maryland, was repealed. 
14* X 



162 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1166. 

But whilst doing this act of empty justice, the parliament 
did not fail to censure the resistance of the colonies, and 
to renew its claim to the power of imposing taxes upon 
them. Its repeal was received with acclamation in Mary- 
land. Every where, the people displayed their joy in festi- 
vals and illuminations. In the midst of their rejoicings, 
they did not forget the debt of gratitude, which they owed 
to the distinguished and enlightened patriots of England, 
who had proved themselves friends of the colonies, in the 
long and patient struggle. In November, 1766, the House 
of Deleorates, "takinir into their most serious consideration, 
the noble and spirited conduct of the Right Honorable 
William Pitt, now Earl of Chatham, and the Right Honor- 
able Charles Pratt, Lord Camden, late lord chief justice of 
the common pleas, and now lord high chancellor of England, 
in defending and supporting the rights and liberties of their 
fellow-subjects in general," " to transmit to posterity their 
grateful sentiments of the inflexible integrity, and conspicu- 
ous abilities of these shining ornaments oftheir country, and 
as a monument oftheir virtue" and " a lasting testimony of 
the gratitude of the freemen of Maryland," unanimously 
decreed, that a marble statue of Chatham should be erected 
in the city of Annapolis, and a portrait of Lord Camden, 
by some eminent hand, placed in the provincial court : — a 
refinement of compliment worthy of the eminent men who 
led the proceedings in that day. They, also, directed their 
agent in London, Mr. Garth, to tender their most sincere 
acknowledgments to the Earl of Chesterfield, Lord Shel- 
burne, secretary Conway, Gen. Howard, Col. Barre, .Sir 
George Saville, Alderman Beckford, and all other members 
of the lords or commons, who had " acted the like glorious 
part of defending, through principle, the just rights of the 
colonists."^ Messrs. Ringgold, T. Johnson, Wolstenholme, 
Hall, Grahame, Hanson, Murdock and Chase, were directed 
* Votes and Proceedings, Nov. 1766, p. 136. 



1766-7.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 163 

to draw up and report a bill, to carry the resolution into 
effect. It passed the lower house ; but, as it assumed, as 
did every act of that unyielding body, that the right of 
originating money bills was vested in the delegates alone, 
the governor and council rejected it, offering, however, to 
agree to it provided the house would abandon their position. 
The act of gratitude, therefore, failed: but its failure, even, 
was honorable to the sturdy independence of the House, 
whilst the resolutions, recorded upon its Journal, have trans- 
mitted to posterity, better than chiseled marble or glowing 
canvass, their gratitude to the great men who had aided 
them in their successful struggle. Thus ended the stamp 
act, in a victory, glorious to the people, tending to unite 
them more strongly together, and proving their strength, 
thus united, against the schemes and machinations of op- 
pression. It prepared them to resist the next invasion of 
their rights with even greater energy.* 
The duty on The English government, even in the moment 
^*'^' of defeat, still clung to the idea of raising a reve- 
nue from the colonies. It goaded their pride to yield ; yet, 
they determined to proceed hereafter in a more cautious 
manner. Townshend declared, in parliament, in 1767, that, 
*' he knew how to raise a revenue from the colonies without 
giving them offence ;" and his opponents, who had origi- 
nated the stamp act, replied, with a taunt; "you dare not 
tax America." And the tax was determined on. On the 
2d of July, 1767, an act was passed by parliament, laying 
a duty upon tea, paints, glass and paper, imported into the 
colonies, under the specious pretence of regulating com- 
merce. But Townshend was not more fortunate than 
Grenville. The old spirit of resistance again broke out, 
the press teemed with appeals to the public ; and the colo- 
nists were soon prepared to meet it, as they had met the 
stamp tax. Massachusetts took the lead once more ; and, 
* McMahon, 320—364. 



164 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1768. 

having framed a petition to the crown, addressed a second 
circular to the sister colonies, advising them to adopt simi- 
lar measures. 

The legislature of Maryland did not assemble until the 
24th of May, 1768, but public opinion had already settled 
their course. The British government finding that the 
spirit of resistance was aroused, had ordered the various 
governors to prorogue the Assemblies of their provinces, if 
they manifested any disposition to unite in measures of 
opposition, hoping thereby to disable the patriots and re- 
duce their strength. But the Assembly of Maryland was 
too wary to be thus circumvented. The patriots prepared 
their measures in advance. They, then, took into consid- 
eration the Massachusetts circular, and appointed a com- 
mittee to draft a petition to the king. Immediately, the 
message of the governor was presented, and they were 
warned that they would be prorogued, if they persisted. 
Without reply or delay, they instantly adopted the petition, 
passed a series of resolutions, which they had already 
framed; and, having successfully taken every step the occa- 
sion demanded, drew up a sharp reply to the governor, 
stating their readiness to be prorogued. This message was 
borne to the governor by Robert Lloyd, the speaker of the 
House, attended by all the members in procession. They 
were accordingly dissolved.* 

This spirited body contained among its members, many 
of those distinguished patriots, who bore honorable share 
in the revolution, in the council chamber or the battle field. 
Thomas Johnson, William Paca, Samuel Chase, Matthew 
Tilghman, Thomas Cockey Dye, Francis Ware and William 
Smallwood, sat in the House, besides many others of less 
note. Gen. Smallwood's military tendencies seem already 
known, for he was appointed with Messrs. Ware, Purnell, 
Griffith and Cresap, the "Indian fighter" of western Mary- 
* Votes and Proceedings, 1768. 



1768-9.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. "^^5 

land, on a committee to inspect the state arms. Their 
report displays the poverty of the magazine : there were 
785 muskets, old and new ; 420 bayonets, 262 swords, 35 
pistols, 47 pikes, 2 halberts, 97 kegs of shot and musket 
ball, 80| barrels of powder, and fifteen pieces of cannon.'' 
Non-importa- '^^^^ colonists were not yet prepared for an 
tion societies, appeal to arms. It was necessary that every 
peaceful means of redress should be exhausted ; and, hav- 
ing tried petition and remonstrance, they determined to 
resort once more to '* Non-importation" which had been 
introduced in the days of the stamp act. It was first 
revived in Boston, but was not generally adopted until all 
hope of redress from parliament was abandoned. At an 
early period of the struggle, county associations had been 
formed in Maryland ; for the purpose of united action, it 
was now deemed expedient to embody them together. On 
the 9th of May, 1769, solicited by the people of the coun- 
ties, several merchants of Annapolis, Messrs. Dick and 
Stewart, McCubbin, Wallace, and W. Stewart, addressed a 
circular to the people, calling a general meeting at that city, 
for the purpose of consulting on the most effectual means of 
promoting frugality and lessening the future importation of 
goods from Great Britain. On the 20th of June, the people 
assembled at beat of drum, and entered into articles of non- 
importation of British superfluities, for promoting frugality, 
economy, and the use of American manufactures; and una- 
nimously pledged themselves, individually, to sustain these 
purposes, and to hunt out and punish all infractions of the 
pledge. To extend the operations of the association, twelve 
printed copies of the resolutions were sent to each county, 
that they might be signed by the whole people. 

In the beginning of the ensuing year, the spirit of the 
associators was put to the test. " The Good Intent," a Brit- 
ish bark, arrived in the harbor of Annapolis, with a cargo of 
* "Votes and Proceedings, 1768. 



166 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1770. 

the obnoxious articles. A meeting of the associators was 
immediately called, a committee of three appointed to ex- 
amine the case, and upon their report, it was resolved that 
the goods should not be landed : and the brig was com- 
pelled to return to London with her whole cargo.* Nor 
was this the only instance ; and, long before the destruction 
of tea in Boston harbor by disguised men, the patriots of 
Maryland, calmly, openly, and in the presence of the gov- 
ernor and the provincial officers, discussed and set at defi- 
ance this obnoxious act, and, more effectually, though 
more peacefully, prevented its execution. When other 
measures were required they were not found wanting, to 
execute them, in the same bold and open manner which 
marked their first movements. This calm but deter- 
mined opposition brought the English merchants to their 
senses ; and they resolved to send no more prohibited goods 
to Maryland. Yet, while this province was thus firmly vin- 
dicating its rights, the other colonies began to fall away 
from their duty. 

The English ministry, alarmed at the unbroken front of 
opposition, promised, in an address to the colonies, the 
repeal of the duty on all articles except tea, which accord- 
ingly took place on April 17th, 1770: and the merchants 
of New York, conceiving that the main objects of the associ- 
ation had been secured, and anxious to escape its attendant 
privations, immediately began to desert their association. 
Philadelphia followed : and several merchants of Baltimore, 
resolved that they would import the articles, now released 
from duty, and requested the general convention of the 
associators of Maryland to consider the matter. Delegates 
from all the counties, in consequence, met at Annapolis, 
but far from yielding their assent to the proposition, de- 
nounced it and its authors, and declared that they would 
hold no communication with them if they persisted in their 
* Annals of Annapolis. 



1770.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 167 

intention. Thus while the people of the cities led the way 
to secession, those of the counties remained firm. They 
had already proclaimed the merchants of New York and 
Philadelphia, faithless to their pledge and traitors to the 
cause : they would not yield to the solicitations of those of 
Baltimore. Patriotism, too often venal and interested in 
cities, flourishes most vigorously in the pure air of the 
country. At last Boston gave up the system ; and the so- 
cieties of Maryland began to despond. Yet they did not 
abandon their pledge, and if for a time they seemed to 
slumber, it was because more absorbing and more direct 
questions arose. 

The Procia- '^^^ public officers of the province had always 
matiou and been Compensated by fees for each service per- 
formed, instead of regular salaries. It is so still 
to a very great extent. These fees were fixed by the legis- 
lature from year to year, and were rated in tobacco, payable 
either in that article, or in money, at a fixed valuation 
per pound. The profits of some officers had become enor- 
mous. Mr. McMahon estimates the annual receipts of the 
secretary of the colony at $4,376 ; of the judges of the land 
office at $6,876; and of the commissary's office, at $3,923.* 
The governor of Maryland, of late years only received a 
salary of $4,200, which the legislature recently reduced to 
$2000, at the demand of the people. It is not strange, 
therefore, that, at that early day, the people became restless 
at these exactions. But there was another burden, which, 
now no longer exists ; the clergy of the established church, 
were supported by tithes, levied on all the taxables in each 
parish. By the act of 1702, passed at an Assembly, which as 
it was now contended, was improperly convened, the rate 
had been fixed at forty pounds of tobacco per head; subse- 
quently, by the act of 1763, it was lowered to thirty pounds : 
and yet, even then, so large were the proceeds, that as an ex- 
* McMahon, 382. 



168 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1770. 

ample, the income of the parish of All Saints, in Frederick, 
amounted to one thousand pounds sterling, or nearly five 
thousand dollars a year. These fees and tithes were col- 
lected by the sheriff by process of execution, if not volun- 
tarily paid.* 

In the general spirit of opposition to unjust burdens and 
abuses which had arisen, these two did not escape : and the 
legislature, in 1770, when the acts authorizing these im- 
positions had expired, took up the question and endeavored 
to diminish the amount of the fees and obtain other reforms. 
But the persons, most directly interested and holding the 
most profitable offices — Daniel Dulany, secretary, Walter 
Dulany, commissary general, Calvert and Stewart of the 
land office, sat in the council or upper house, and resisted 
every attempt to infringe upon their profits. From this 
moment, Daniel Dulany, and his compeers, became arrayed 
against the patriots. Interest proved stronger than public 
spirit: and the popular champion during the stamp tax 
struggle, became the defender of Proprietary rights and 
royal privileges, during the subsequent contests. After an 
ineffectual attempt to arrange the affair, the House, having 
ordered the arrest of the clerk of the land office for taking 
illegal fees, was prorogued by Governor Eden. There was 
now no law in existence for the collection of officers' fees, 
and that for the rating of tithes had also expired. For the 
clergy, it was contended that the act of 1702 was revived, 
by the expiration of that of 1763, and they, immediately 
proceeded to collect their tithes, at the rate of 40 pounds 
of tobacco per titheable instead of thirty : while, for the 
protection of the officers, who, with the established clergy, 
formed the main stay of the royalist party, the governor, 
on the 26th of November, issued a proclamation fixing the 
old rates of fees, and requiring the officers to receive the 
amount in money if tendered.! 

* McMahon, 398. f Ibid. 399. 



1770-3.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND- 169 

The people of Maryland had never yet submitted to an 
arbitrary exercise of power, and the proclamation at once 
woke up all the fire of " the Sons of Liberty." Parties 
were formed — for some were found venal enough to array 
themselves on the side of patronage and authority — the 
officers and the established clergy, and their adherents, ral- 
lied around the governor, against the body of the people, 
headed by the almost unbroken front of the lawyers of 
Maryland. Yet one of those, who should have maintained 
the honor of his profession, as a sentinel upon the watch- 
tower of liberty — Daniel Dulany — was found enrolled upon 
the side of privilege. He held the most lucrative of those 
offices, which the people sought to reform. As in former 
controversies, public opinion was appealed to in every 
mode ; by popular addresses, pamphlets, and discussions 
in the columns of the Maryland Gazette. Amid these, 
arose a young man, spirited, wealthy and highly educated, 
who threw himself headlong into the struggle ; and, grow- 
ing with its trials, became renowned in its darkest hours, 
and honored and cherished in its glorious success. 
„. , „ Charles Carroll of Carrollton, was descended 

roll and Dan- from a family, which had settled in the province 
iei Dulany. ^^^^^^ ^^^ revolution of 1689. He was born 

in 1737, at the city of Annapolis, and at eight years of age 
sent to France to be educated. At the age of twenty he 
commenced the study of the law, in London. He returned 
to Maryland in 1764, just in time to enter heart and soul 
into the strife, which his countrymen were waging against 
tyranny. He had struggled against the stamp tax; he now 
took his place again, by the side of his brethren, in the 
opening contest against parliament. With Daniel Dulany 
himself, he grappled: and the controversy was the most 
marked of that day. It was carried on under the names of 
the "First Citizen'' and " jintilon." His articles were 
able and eloquent, as able and eloquent as those of his great 
15 Y 



170 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1773. 

and learned opponent, who had long stood, the leading 
mind of Maryland: and they were more effective. He 
conquered, for he fought on the side of liberty. What mat- 
tered it to him that a thousand petty assailants sprang up 
against him, in support of a foreign domination, en- 
deavored to meet his arguments with invective, and 
taunted him with that, which if not his glory was their 
shame — '' that he v/as a disfranchised man and could not 
even vote at an election."* With enlightened men such 
assaults must ever fail, as they did then fail. He triumphed 
with the people ; he lived to see them free, and great, and 
prosperous : he survived, the last of the noble band of sign- 
ers, a relic of the great past, among the young generations, 
which sprang up around him ; and when he passed away to 
the sleep of peace, the tears, not alone of Maryland, but of 
the whole union flowed for him. 

The elections came on in the midst of this controversy, 
and they were made to turn upon it. They resulted in the 
complete success of the popular party. Every where they 
prevailed ; and, every where, the people acknowledged their 
gratitude to their able champion. They could not select 
him as a delegate, for though the defender of their liberty, 
he was himself doubly enthralled ; but, solemnly instructed 
by public meetings, held in Frederick, Baltimore and An- 
napolis, the delegates elect formally presented to the " First 
Citizen," the thanks of the people. 
The Procia- ^he last Assembly, in 1771, had petitioned 

mation. against the arbitrary exercise of power ; they had 
argued and remonstrated in vain. The measure was per- 
sisted in. Now, the people determined to give additional 
weight to the proceedings of the new house, by a bold 
manifestation of their indignant feelings. Upon the closing 
of the polls at Annapolis, the popular candidates, Messrs. 
Paca and Hammond, were declared elected ; and the people 

* McMahon, 391. 



*773.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 171 

set about celebrating their victory. They inarched in pro 
cession to the gallows, preceded by two flags, on one of 
which was inscribed, '^ Liber ty,^^ and on the other, "710 
proclamation f'^ with the representatives elect, between them ; 
then followed a sexton and a clerk, a coffin containing a 
copy of the proclamation cut out of one of Mr. Dulany's 
articles in its defence, — and muffled drums and fifes, play- 
ing the dead march, and a large concourse of people from 
town and country, with six pieces of cannon, significantly 
bringing up the rear. The coffin, with its contents, the 
obnoxious proclamation, was suspended from the gallows, 
then cut down and buried, amidst loud shouts and dis- 
charges of minute guns, whose sound swept ominously to 
the government house and its defeated adherents. On the 
coffin was inscribed the following meaning words : 

" The proclamation, the child of folly and oppression, born the 
26th of November, 1770, departed this life 14th of May, 1773, 
and buried on the same day, by the Freemen of Annapolis."* 

The Vestry Similar was the feeling evinced throughout the 
^^^' state, when the result of the elections was an- 
nounced. It might have warned a government not devoted 
to ruin. The clergy of the established church, blinded by 
interest, still insisted upon their arbitrary claims ; the people 
resisted, and they had recourse to the courts to sustain their 
exactions. But the lower courts, in many instances, de- 
cided against them. This controversy had now lasted three 
years, and thrown the colony into commotion, unsettling the 
course of its laws, and interrupting public business. The 
whole tobacco inspection system was destroyed, and affairs 
could no longer remain in such a condition. At length 
a compromise of several of the subjects of dispute was 
effected, and the rest were merged and forgotten in a new 
and more excitinsr contest. 

* McMahon, 396-7. 



172 HISTORY OP MARYLAND [1773-1. 

The tax upon tea had not yet been repeal- Revival of 
ed, and, although the non-importation societies the tax on tea. 
for a time declined in their vigor, so constant was the 
opposition of the people, and so obnoxious had the use of 
that article become, that it ceased to be imported, and 
large quantities accumulated in the warehouses of the East 
India Company, in England. The British government de- 
termined to make a last effort to subdue the colonies; and, 
to enlist the interests of the company in their project, 
offered it a drawback of the amount paid in duty. Thus 
the price of tea in the colonies would not be increased by 
the duty : — and, in that aspect, the submission to it would 
have been merely nominal. But a principle was at issue, 
and the people would not submit. The East India Com- 
pany, however, eagerly accepted the offer, and vessels load- 
ed with "Me detestable weed,''^ as the colonists termed it, 
were sent to Charleston, Philadelphia, New York and 
Boston. At Charleston the tea was landed, but the agent? 
dared not expose it for sale : the vessels destined for New 
York and Philadelphia were compelled to return to England 
without landing their caro^oes. At Boston a more deter- 
mined effort was made : and, sustained by a strong body 
of troops, the royal governor resolved to carry the measure 
into effect. But the patriots, by a bold and sudden stroke, 
came off victorious. Disguised as Indians, a party entered 
the ships, broke open the chests and threw the tea over- 
board. This spirited measure called down upon Boston 
the vengeance of the government: in March, 1774, she 
was deprived of her privileges as a port of entry and dis- 
charge, and steps were taken to strip the people of Massa- 
chusetts of a portion of their liberties. The only effect of 
these measures was more completely to arouse the colonies. 

The people of Maryland were not wanting in TheConven- 
this crisis ; a general convention was called for — ^'°"' 
public meetings were at once held in all the counties ; and 



1774.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 173 

delegates chosen, who met at AnnapoHs on the 22d of June, 
1774. The resolutions of this distinguished body breathed a 
spirit of the most determined opposition to the tyranny of 
England. They proposed an absolute cessation of inter- 
course with the mother country, directed subscriptions to be 
made for the relief of the Bostonians, and, having named 
Matthew Tilghman, Thomas Johnson, Robert Goldsborough, 
William Paca and Samuel Chase, delesfates to the gfeneral 
congress, declared that the province would break off all 
trade or dealing with any colony, province or town, that 
refused to come into the common leagrue. 

Nor was it long before the firmness of the non-importa- 
tion assoeiators was tried : and if the tea party of Boston 
has been thought worthy of renown, the tea burning at 
Annapolis — open and undisguised, equalling the former 
in every respect, should not be forgotten. 

In August, 1774, the brigantine " Mary and Jane," Capt. 
George Chapman, master, arrived in the St. Mary's river 
with several packages of tea on board, consigned to mer- 
chants in Georo-etown and Bladensburo^. The committee 
of Charles county immediately summoned the master before 
them, and desired Mr. Findlay, one of the consignees also 
to appear. The explanations and submission of these gen- 
tlemen were declared satisfactory ; and, as the duty had 
not been paid, they were discharged upon the pledge that 
the teas should not be landed but should be sent back in 
the brig to London. The committee of Frederick county 
pursued a similar course with the consignees at George- 
town.* But a more serious infrino^ement of the rules of 
the "association" soon occupied public attention. 

On the 14th of October, the brig Peggy Stewart arrived 

at Annapolis, having in its cargo a few packages of tea 

consigned to Thomas Williams and Company. The duty 

was paid by Mr. Anthony Stewart, the owner of the vessel. 

* American Archives, 4th series, vol. 1, pp. 703-5. 
15* 



174 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1774, 

This submission to the oppressive enactment of parlia- 
ment, called forth the deepest feeling. A public meeting 
was held : the owner of the vessel and the Messrs. Wil- 
liams, the consignees, in the most humble manner, apolo- 
gized for their offence, and consented to the burning of 
the tea. But the people vrere determined to exact a more 
signal vindication of their rights : the easy compliance of 
Mr. Stewart with the act, had aroused their anger, and 
threats were poured out against his vessel and himself. 
Alarmed at the impending danger, Mr. Stewart, by the ad- 
vice of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, to soothe the violence 
of the people and make amends for his fault, offered to 
destroy the vessel with his own hand. The proposition 
was accepted : and whilst the people gathered in crowds 
upon the shore to witness its consummation, Mr. Stewart, 
accompanied by the consignees, went on board the brig, 
ran her aground on Windmill Point, and set lire to her in 
presence of the multitude. So obnoxious had tea become, 
that, wherever it was discovered, its owners were forced to 
destroy it. Two months later, the people of that portion 
of Frederick, which is now embraced in Washington 
county, having met at Hagerstown, compelled one John 
Parks to walk bareheaded, holdino^ lighted torches in his 
hands, and set fire to a chest of tea which he had delivered 
up, and " which was consumed amid the acclamations of a 
numerous body of people." The committee voted that no 
intercourse should be held with Parks ; and the people, 
to complete his punishment for having concealed ''the 
detestable weed," assailed and sacked his dwelling. Simi- 
lar evidences of popular determination were manifested 
throughout the colony, and while they tended to exasperate 
the royalists, their success gave new spirit to the patriots.* 
The anxiously expected congress assembled on the fifth 
of September, 1774. It issued a manifesto setting forth 
* Annals of Annapolis. 



1774.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 175 

the rights and grievances of the colonies, and proposing, 
as a measure of retaliation, a very extensive scheme of non- 
importation of British goods. On its adjournment, the 
Maryland Convention was again assembled, on the 21st of 
November, and having unanimously approved of the pro- 
ceedings of the congress, adjourned over to the 8th of 
December, to give time to the counties not yet represented 
to send in their delegates. With their organization on that 
day, closed in fact the power and dominion of the last Pro- 
prietary of Maryland. 

The last Pro- ^he people of the colony had always loved and 
prietary. severed the family of the founder of the province, 
and under the government of his descendants, had enjoyed 
a large liberty and a constantly increasing prosperity. They 
ever, bore testimony in favor of their kind and paternal rule. 
It seemed as if Providence, when the great struggle for 
liberty and independence was approaching, had interposed 
to sever that link, which might have bound them to England 
and served to lessen their ardor in the common cause. In 
1758, Frederick, last of the lords Baltimore, became a 
widower, by the death of his wife, Diana, daughter of the 
duke of Bridge water; he never married again, but, after hav- 
ing led a dissolute and degraded life, died in Italy in 1771, 
at the age of forty. Having no legitimate children, he de- 
vised the province to his natural son, Henry Harford, Esq. 
The title of Lord Baltimore, could not descend to him, and 
thus, the name of the founders of the colony passed from 
their descendants, just as their rule over it was about to 
cease. Although the people might have clung with affec- 
tion to the memory of the old lords Baltimore, a Proprietary, 
who was an alien in name, and of illegitimate birth, could 
only increase their discontent, and make them seek more 
eao-erly for independence from his rule. As Henry Har- 
ford, was the last Proprietary, his representative, Robert 
Eden was the last English governor of Maryland. He re- 



176 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1774, 

mained in the colony long after his authority had passed 
from him to the people. In the month of June, 1776, by 
permission of the committee of safety, he embarked on 
board the British sloop of war, Fowey, and joined Lord 
Dunmore, the late governor of Virginia, in the bay. On 
reaching England, he was knighted for his services. After 
the close of the war, the late Proprietary and his governor, 
returned together into the State, where the latter died, not 
long after, near the city of Annapolis. 
Retrospect. A period of one hundred and forty years had 
passed, since the two hundred pilgrims, under Leonard Cal- 
vert, landed on the wild shores of the little river-island, at 
the southern extreme of the province. Their descendants 
had already extended themselves to its northern boundary, 
covered its eastern shore with wealth and civilization, cross- 
ed the Blue Ridge, filling its rich valleys with a bold and 
hardy population, and planted themselves upon the sides 
of the Alleghanies. On its bays and rivers floated, already, 
the fleets of a growing commerce, while its towns waited 
but the impulse of independence to spring up into populous 
cities. Although devoted to agriculture, the people turned 
their attention to the mineral wealth of their soil, and the 
forge and the furnace were already actively at work, while 
other manufactures needed only a fostering hand, or the 
call of necessity, to be successfully established. 

In 1634, the colony stood under its charier the heritage 
of " the absolute lord Proprietary," with an aristocratic 
government, overshadowing the sleeping germ of its demo- 
cracy : in 1774, the power of the lord Proprietary, with that 
of the British crown, was verging to its fall, and the pro- 
vince was governed by a sovereign convention of the people. 
Many struggles, and not a few revolutions had aided in 
bringing about this change : and in all there was progress, 
save in regard to religious liberty, — even in that, there was 
the silent preparation for a step which was to place it on a 



n74.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 177 

higher and broader platform than it had ever occupied 
before. The age, wliich saw the foundation of Maryland, 
was a persecuting age. A fanatical zeal had overspread 
the world, and whenever men had the power, they seemed 
to consider it a solemn duty, to propagate their creeds, 
whatsoever they might be, even by fire and sword. They 
forgot that, it is only the oifering of the willing heart that is 
acceptable to God. Persecution can only make martyrs or 
hypocrites. The Catholic persecuted the Protestant; and 
the Protestant persecuted the Cathohc and his fellow Pro- 
testants who dissented with him. A different and more en- 
lightened feeling pervades the present generation : but it is 
by that of the past, that the early settlers of Maryland must 
be judged. Until the year 1649, there were no restrictions, 
no penalties upon any Christian belief. When religious 
dissensions began to creep into the colony, the act of 1649 
was passed — and it is not strange that it adopted some of 
the feeling that pervaded the rest of the world. While, the 
men of that day, Protestants and Catholics, were desirous 
of assuring to all "professing to believe in Jesus Christ," 
full and equal rights; they did not dream of extending 
them to those, who denied the articles, which all denomina- 
tions aoreed in considerinsf the requisites and the common 
ground of Christianity. " Blasphemy against God, denying 
our Saviour Jesus Christ to be the son of God, or denying 
the Holy Trinity, or the godhead of any of the three 
persons" thereof, they considered great crimes, for which 
they prescribed " the punishment of death and the confis- 
cation of lands and goods to the lord Proprietary. Blas- 
phemy is even now deemed an offence against the laws ; 
and although the public denial of the divinity of the Saviour 
and of the Trinity, may have been viewed in that light, 
the ferocity of the punishment prescribed for it is so much 
at variance with the mild character of the Proprietary, and 
the liberality of the early settlers, that it is difficult to 



178 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



[1774. 



account for its existence. To all Christians, equal rights. 
and privileges were extended : and this, measured by the 
sentiments of that age, is no slight glory. In the revolution 
of '89, this toleration was overthrown, as it had been sus- 
pended during the days of the commonwealth, but its gra- 
dual extension to all dissenters from the established church, 
as the political excitement of that period passed away, 
prepared the people for the more enlarged equality which 
dawned like a brilliant morn upon the opening revolution 
of 1776. Still however, the Jew remained enthralled until 
a much later period.* 

Thus stood the colony, in this crisis, possessing the 
germs of great resources, agricultural, commercial and ma- 
nufacturing, with a people liberalized in their sentiments, 
proud of the liberties which they had acquired, prepared to 
extend them, and ready to maintain them with their blood. 

• 1824-5. 




CHAPTER YIII. 

THE REVOLUTION. 

1774 — 1776. 

A,S with one accord, the patriots of Maryland, at the call 
of the convention, hastened to bury all private animosities, 
all local differences, all religious disputes, all memory of 
past persecution ; to wash out all invidious distinctions, to 
equalize all rights, and "in the name of God, their country 
and posterity, to unite in defence of the common rights and 
liberties."* The old spirit of sectarian dissension, which 
had brought so much evil upon the province, was absorbed 
in the struggle for political rights, in which all were alike 
interested. In vain the royalist endeavored to excite divi- 
sions by the cry of church in danger. The attempt only 
opened the eyes of the people more fully to the injustice 
of disenfranchisement for religious opinion, and Charles 
Carroll of Carrollton, a Catholic, and already an acknow- 
ledged leader of the patriots, sat in the convention, as the 
delegate of a Protestant constituency, and bore an hono- 
rable share in its proceedings. The domination of the 
British crown and the rule of intolerance, in Maryland, 
sunk under the same blows and perished together, never 
more to be revived. 

On the 8th of December, 1774, the convention again as- 
sembled, and proceeded at once to make preparations for 
an armed resistance to the power of England. And now 
was presented the singular spectacle of two governments 
over the same people ; the old, silent and powerless, and 
yet possessing all the machinery of power and the will 
to exert it; the new, exercising an irresistible authority 
179 * Maryland Conventions, p. 10. 



180 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1774. 

throughout the colony, peacefully and without direct con- 
travention of law controlling even the business of the people, 
overlaying and rendering useless the old, and, by common 
consent, swaying a complete and entire supremacy. The 
convention itself was the general legislative and executive 
body, and its resolves and recommendations were received 
by the people as laws, and carried into effect through the 
county committees of safety, vigilance and correspondence. 
All who refused to submit to these decrees, were summoned 
before them, and the judgment of the committees upon 
them published : — from that moment the offenders became 
the mark of public scorn and contempt. The connection 
of the province with other colonies, was preserved through 
the delegates sent to the national cons^ress, and through 
the general corresponding committee. This simple ma- 
chinery, rendered effective by public opinion, which in a 
free land alone gives strength to laws, was all-powerful. It 
formed the first transition step from the old establishment 
to the present system. 

Having thus provided for the exercise of their authority, 
the convention proceeded to resolve, that if the crown at- 
tempted to carry out by force the measures against Massa- 
chusetts, Maryland would assist her to the last extremity. 
To give earnest of their sincerity, they ordered that all the 
males in the colony, from sixteen to fifty years of age, should 
be enrolled and organized into companies, and armed, 
equipped, and drilled, ready for instant service : and' that 
an assessment often thousand pounds* should be levied on 

* The proportion assigned to the counties is a matter of interest, as 
showing their relative wealth and population at that period. 
St. Mary's, £600 
Charles, 800 

Calvert, 366 

Prince George's, 833 
Anne Arundel, 866 
Frederick, 1333 



Baltimore, 


£933 


Talbot, £400 


Harford, 


466 


Queen Anne's, 533 


Worcester, 


533 


Kent, 566 


Somerset, 


533 


Cecil, 400 


Dorchester, 
Caroline, 


480 
358 




£10,000 



1775.] HISTORY OF MARyLAiN'D. 181 

the counties, in proportion to their population, to be ex- 
pended in the purchase of arms and ammunition, under the 
charge of the county committees. Matthew Tilghman, 
John Hall, Samuel Chase, Thomas Johnson, Jr., Charles 
Carroll of Carrollton, Charles Carroll, barrister, and William 
Paca, were appointed corresponding committee for the 
colony, and Messrs. Tilghman, Johnson, Robert Golds- 
borough, Paca, Chase, Hall and Thomas Stone, delegates 
to congress. Then, having called on their sister colonies 
to prepare for the general defence, and besought all men to 
enter with united hearts and hands into the approaching 
struggle, the convention adjourned on the 12th of Decem- 
ber to meet again at Annapolis on the 24th of April, 1775.* 

The resolves of the convention were immediately carried 
out ; old and young enrolled with the greatest enthusiasm, 
and money, arms, and ammunition, were every where col- 
lected to meet the approaching crisis. Maryland was gird- 
ing herself for the struggle. It broke out in open conflict, 
just before the meeting of the convention. 

On the 19th of April, 1775, the first blood, shed in the 
revolutionary war, was poured out^on the field of Lexing- 
ton : and the result of the contest between provincial valor 
and patriotism, and British skill and discipline, served only 
to rouse the whole people more fully. Lexington and 
Concord will ever be remembered, as the opening of that 
long and perilous struggle, which resulted in the indepen- 
dence of the United States. The British government, find- 
ing every attempt to compel submission to their arbitrary 
enactments had failed, in the fall and winter of the pre- 
ceding year, gathered a strong force at Boston and cut 
off* all communication between that city and the country. 
This step only hastened the preparations of the patriots, 
instead of overawing them. Magazines of arms and am- 
munition were collected, and minute men enrolled, and the 

* Conventions of Maryland. 
16 



182 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1775. 



country put in such a state of defence, that at a moment's 
warning, the militia swarmed together in thousands. 

In the midst of this excitement General Gage, who com- 
manded the British troops, sent a detachment to destroy 
the provincial magazines at Concord and Lexington. At 
Lexington, warned in spite of the precautions of the enemy, 
about seventy minute men hurriedly assembled to make 
resistance. As the British approached, Major Pitcairn, who 
led their van gallopped up, calling out, " disperse, rebels!" 
The soldiers at the same time charged, firing a volley upon 
their half armed opponents, and the militia dispersed, leaving 
on the ground, eight men killed and' seven wounded. Im- 
mediately the news spread abroad, and before the British 
had finished their work of destruction at Concord, their 
advanced parties were driven in ; and from Concord to 
Lexington a continuous fire poured upon them from every 
fence and cover. Worn down and exhausted, they reached 
Lexington, where they were joined by a strong reinforce- 
ment with cannon. But no sooner had the march been 
recommenced, than the galling fire of the provincials again 
opened upon them. The route of the retreating column 
was marked with slain. At length, they found security 
under the guns of their ships near Bunker Hill, on the 
evening of the 19th of April — having lost in killed, wounded, 
and prisoners, two hundred and seventy-three men. The 
loss of the Americans did not exceed ninety. At each 
point where the skirmishing took place, the British gave the 
first fire, for the provincials remained upon the defensive, 
desirous not to violate the letter of the law. 

The first blood, shed in the cause of liberty, aroused the 
land.* North and south went the news upon the wings 
of the wind : day and night rode expresses from town to 
town, from committee to committee, sped onward like the 

* The first rumors of the battle reached New York on the morning 
of the 23d and were forvparded south. 



1775.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 183 

bended bow to arouse the country. A full account reach- 
ed New York on the 25th of April, at 2, p. m.; Elizabeth- 
town, at seven; Woodbridge, at ten; New Brunswick, at 
twelve o'clock, at night; Princeton, at three in the morning 
of the 26th; Trenton, at half past six; and Philadelphia, at 
twelve: Chester, at 4, p. m.; Newcastle, at nine; Cristeen 
bridge, at twelve; the head of Elk, at 4, a. m. of the 27th; 
Baltimore, at ten, p. m.; and Annapolis, next morning at 
half past nine o'clock.* And onward, thence, the despatch 
of the blood-tidinofs went southward from town to town, 
endorsed by each committee, the time of its receipt and its 
departure, and the solemn order, " night and day to be for- 
warded," until it had penetrated the farthest recesses of the 
colonies. From Massachusetts, through Rhode Island and 
Connecticut, through New York, New Jersey and Pennsyl- 
vania, through Maryland, Virginia, N. Carolina, and S. Ca- 
rolina, to Charleston, it went in twenty days, from the 20th 
of April to the 10th of May, over the rough and difficult 
roads of that period. Each committee on the main route 
made and retained copies of the despatches and sent off 
others by express throughout the interior. By this admira- 
ble arrangement, the whole land was bound together, intel- 
ligence conveyed, and a common system of action preserved. 

The war was now commenced — nearly twenty thousand 
volunteers immediately assembled, about Boston : and the 
British troops were themselves besieged. 

The convention of Maryland, after a session of four days 
in which it reappointed delegates to congress, had just ad- 
journed, when the news of these successful battles reached 
Annapolis. The province was too far from the scene of 
conflict to take an immediate part in the struggle, and upon 
its own soil not a single hostile foot was pressed, nor an 
enemy's sword unsheathed. The note of preparation went 
on more busily. The enrolments were hastened, minute 
* American Archives, 1775, vol. 2, p. 366, &.c. 



184 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 11115. 

men were raised ; there was no hesitation on the part of the 
great body of the people. Elsewhere, it was suggested by 
the timid that submission would ensure reconciliation. 
The city of New York, was still cold and undecided, and it 
was found necessary to march a body of Connecticut troops 
within striking distance, to overawe the tory tendencies of 
many of the people. But in Maryland the people were 
long since prepared for the resort to arms. 

On the seventeenth of June, the British attacked the provin- 
cials, and the memorable battle of Bunker's Hill was fought. 
Then hesitation ceased, and doubt every where gave place 
to certainty. Congress determined to carry on an offensive 
war : Boston was ordered to be invested ; and General 
Washington, nominated before that body by Thomas John- 
son of Maryland, on the 15th of June, 1775, was chosen 
commander in chief of the American forces.* 

In the midst of this exciting period, on the 26th of July, 
the convention of Maryland again assembled, and their first 
step was to adopt the famous "Association of the Freemen 
of Maryland," which was subscribed to by all the patriots, 
and became the written constitution of the province, until 
the new system was framed in 1776. It approved of the 
proceedings of congress, and called on the people to sus- 
tain them; required that forty companies of minute men 
should be raised ; provided a complete military system ; 
vested the executive power during the recess of the con- 
vention in a committee of safety, eight of whom were se- 
lected from the eastern and ejght from the western shore : 
and directed a large issue of paper money to defray all 
necessary expenses. It also required the voters of the 
counties, to elect a committee of observation, who were 
to exercise a superintending power in their respective 
counties. 

To redeem their pledges to the common cause, the con- 
* Sparks, vol. 3, p. 480. 



1775.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 185 

vention ana committees, set about the formation of a reorular 
force to be composed of a battalion, of which Col. Small- 
wood received command, and seven independent compa- 
nies, numbering in all 1444 men — besides two companies of 
artillery and one of marines.* By a resolution of congress 
passed on the 14th of June, 1775, two companies of rifle- 
men were called for from Maryland, which, with two to 
be raised in Virginia, and six in Pennsylvania, were to be 
formed into one battalion, and marched by companies as 
soon as enlisted, to the camp around Boston. The two 
Maryland companies were assigned to Frederick county, 
and the committee of that county, on the 21st of June, ap- 
pointed Michael Cresap captain, Thomas Warren, Joseph 
Cresap, jr., and Richard Davis lieutenants of the first com- 
pany, and Thomas Price, captain, Otho Holland Williams 
and John Ross Key lieutenants of the second.! These 
companies were soon filled with the hardy pioneers of 
western Maryland, and before the close of July took up 
their march for the camp where they arrived in August. 
Capt. Cresap's numbered one hundred and thirty men, who 
were armed with tomahawks and rifles, were painted like 
Indians, and dressed in hunting shirts and moccasins. 
They exhibited their skill and daring in Frederick, before 
they set out to the north, the most expert holding the target 
in their hands, for each other to shoot at.f By a subse- 
quent resolve of congress, in 1776, six more companies 
were ordered to be raised, four by Virginia and two by 
Maryland, to be incorporated with the four companies pre- 
viously enlisted into a regiment, under the command of 
Col. Stevenson of Virofinia, Lieut. Col. Moses Rawlinors. 
and Major Otho H. Williams of Maryland. 

Yet, impatient of the necessary delay in organizing these 
troops, numbers of young men hastened at their own 

* Convention Journals. See Appendix A. 

j- Amer. Archives, 4th S. vol. 2, p. 1046. J Ibid. 3d vol. p. 2. 

16=* A a 



186 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1175. 

expense to join the camp before Boston, as volunteers. 
Among these was James Wilkinson, afterwards a major 
general in the United States service. But there were other 
materials of war of as pressing need as men, which required 
prompt measures to furnish and without which their quota 
of men would be useless. Indeed the colonies entered in- 
to the war without supplies. The non-importation system 
had rendered them more destitute of the necessaries of 
either peace or war, than they had been at any prior period : 
and it was now found almost impossible to provide the 
hastily collected troops with powder and ball, or clothing. 
Throughout the war, the scarcity of these articles, and of 
the necessary hospital stores, crippled the exertions of the 
patriots, and caused greater loss of life than even the sword 
of the enemy. The arsenal at Annapolis was in an almost 
destitute condition, and the statesmen of Maryland per- 
ceived the necessity of providing at once if possible for a 
permanent supply of arms and ammunition, and military 
material. A sum of money was set apart by the convention 
for the manufactui;e of saltpetre for the public use ; and, to 
encourage a general production of this indispensable mate- 
rial, a bounty of two pence was offered for every pound 
of the rough article made in private factories. The policy 
of the convention immediately acted upon the people. 
Powder mills were also erected, especially in Frederick 
county, the manufacture of wool, flax, and hemp, encour- 
aged, and the makinor of £fun barrels and all the munitions 
of war undertaken not from the hope of profit, but from the 
promptings of patriotism. But they were still very defi- 
cient in artillery, and it was thought that this want too 
could be supplied at home. They were not mistaken. 
Mr. Hughes, of Frederick county, contracted to supply the 
province with cannon ; congress wished to engage him to 
furnish the continental army also, but he was compelled to 
decline their proposals. 



177;".] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 187 

As yet Maryland had not even been threatened with hos- 
tihties. But a period of real danger was approaching. 
Dunmore, the late royal governor of Virginia, having been 
driven from that colony, took refuge on board of some men 
of war in those waters, and commenced a series of depre- 
dations upon the counties bordering on the bay. He, at 
the same time, kept up his communications with the royal- 
ists in that colony, and endeavored to extend his influence 
to Maryland. In July, 1775, John Conolly of Lancaster Co., 
Pennsylvania, presented to his lordship a plan for raising an 
army in the western parts, and cutting off all communica- 
tion between the northern and southern provinces. The 
scheme, as set forth in the records of the Frederick county 
committee of safety, certainly displayed no small degree of 
talent and skill in its projector, and would, but for its timely 
arrest by the vigilance of that committee, have been produc- 
tive of the most serious consequences. The disaffected on 
the western borders were to be enrolled, by the aid of large 
bounties; the Indians vi^ere to be called in to their assistance: 
and the troops stationed at Detroit, with all the artillery and 
munitions of war from the line of fortresses on the north 
west, were to form the nucleus of the army, which was to 
march suddenly on the defenceless frontier, cut its way to 
Alexandria, and, there, being joined by Lord Dunmore, 
fortify itself under the guns of his fleet, overawe the patriots, 
strengthen and confirm the royalists, and effectually cut 
off* all communication between the north and south. Lord 
Dunmore appoving the plan, despatched Conolly to Boston, 
with letters of introduction to Gen. Gage ; who having given 
his proposals a favorable consideration, sent him back to 
Virginia with instructions in pursuance of which, Dunmore 
in October, issued him " a commission of Lieut. Colonel 
commandant of the forces to be raised in the back parts 
and Canada, with power to nominate his subordinate offi- 
cers." Accompanied by Dr. John Smith of St. Mary's 



188 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1775. 

county, and Allen Cameron of Virginia, both natives of 
Scotland, whom he had enlisted in his design, he succeeded 
in effecting his passage through the most dangerous portion 
of his route with safety, disseminating his evil principles on 
the way, and preparing for the accomplishment of his 
purpose. 

But an overruling Providence guarded the destinies of the 
land, and just as he was about to emerge from the hostile 
settlements to prosecute the remainder of his journey in 
security, he was arrested, with his companions, in the up- 
per part of Frederick county, and sent under guard to Fred- 
erick, where he was examined by the committee of safety. 
A copy of his plan, a letter from Lord Dunmore to White 
Eyes, a Delaware chief, to secure his co-operation and a 
treasonable letter to a citizen of Virginia, were discovered 
upon his person. Finding further disguise useless, he ad- 
mitted the charge against him, and, with his companions, 
was put in close confinement to await the action of the 
convention and conofress. who were forthwith notified of 
the affair by Mr. Hanson, the chairman of the committee. 
In December, congress directed the prisoners to be for- 
warded to Philadelphia, which was accordingly done under 
a guard of ten men, commanded by Dr. Adam Fisher. Dr. 
Smith succeeded in escaping during the night, but was re- 
taken :* and the prisoners were delivered safely in Philadel- 
phia. Connolly was afterwards exchanged, and reappeared 
at a late period in the prosecution of his old scheme.! 

Whilst thus endeavoring to organize a force on the west, 
Dunmore was actively at work disseminating the seeds of 
disaffection by his agents on the Eastern Shore of Mary- 
land. His partizans were partially successful, and raised 
several companies of men pledged to support the royal 
cause if arms, ammunition and a small additional force 

* Sparks, vol. 3, pp. 126-212-271. 

t Proceedings of the committee of safety of Frederick. 



1776.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 189 

should be furnished them. They even became so bold as 
openly to tear off the black cockade which the patriots 
wore at their militia trainings, to replace it with the red 
cockade, and to parade under officers of their own selection. 
A party under one of their leaders, in November, seized on 
a small craft and sailed secretly to obtain the necessary 
supplies of ammunition : but before the malcontents could 
mature their plans, the committee of safety of the Eastern 
Shore, aided by the committees of Somerset and Worcester 
counties assembled a body of a thousand militia, crushed 
the attempt and secured the principal conspirators. 

Although defeated in these attempts, Dunmore did not 
pause in his efforts. In January, 1776, he invaded Accomac 
and Northampton, the Virginia counties on the Eastern 
Shore. As soon, however, as the fact was known by the 
convention, then in session, three companies of minute 
men were called out for two months from Kent, Queen 
Anne's and Dorchester, and ordered to march to the as- 
sistance of the inhabitants. Two of these only, under Capts. 
Kent and Henry, were in a condition to march, the third, 
from Dorchester, possessed only ten guns fit for service 
and was unable to procure a supply. The two companies 
that marched to Northampton, numbering one hundred and 
sixty-six men, were generally well armed, but many of Capt. 
Kent's men were without shoes. They were received by 
the people with public demonstrations of joy and continued 
on the station long after their orders had expired, in order 
to afford protection to the people.* 

Whilst Dunmore was thus threatening the Eastern Shore 
with his detachments, he bombarded Norfolk with the 
heavy vessels of his fleet. For the protection of the har- 
bors of Maryland from similar attempts, batteries were 
erected near Baltimore and Annapolis, and several mer- 
chant vessels were manned and armed as vessels of war. 
American Archives, 4th s. vol. 4.— Conventions of Maryland, p. 40. 



190 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1776. 

In addition to the batteries, the entrance of the Basin at 
Baltimore was obstructed by three heavy chains of wrought 
iron stretched across its mouth, and by vessels sunk in the 
channel. The public records were removed for safe keep- 
ing from Annapolis to Upper Marlborough. These prepa- 
rations were not useless. Early in March, 1776, the Otter, 
British sloop of war, with two tenders, made her appearance 
in the bay, captured several small vessels, and, after hover- 
ing about Annapolis, anchored a few miles below Baltimore, 
with the intention of destroying the State ship Defence, 
then nearly completed in that harbor. Captain Nicholson, 
who commanded the Defence, determined to retake the 
prizes, and having hastily got his vessel ready, and shipped 
a number of volunteers, with a portion of Capt. Smith's 
company as marines, bore down upon the enemy, accom- 
panied by several smaller vessels crowded with men. The 
morning was hazy and the British were completely surpris- 
ed; the tenders escaped with difficulty, and all the prizes 
were recaptured, and manned and cleared for action. 

The Otter, intimidated by the prompt action and formi- 
dably appearance of Nicholson's squadron, bore away for 
Annapolis. But finding this place equally well fortified, 
and a strong body of the newly organized regulars, as well 
as militia, assembled to protect the town and shipping, the 
Otter and her tenders dropped down the bay, without hav- 
ing won either booty or success.* The militia and inde- 
pendent companies, which had been put under marching 
orders, upon the first appearance of the enemy in the waters 
of Maryland, now followed them down the bay shores as 
fast as possible. Having plundered a small island on the 
Eastern Shore, they made their appearance off Chariton 
creek in Northampton county, where the Maryland minute 
men were stationed. The tender entered the creek for the 
purpose of cutting out several schooners, one of which, 
* Annals of Annapolis ; American Archives. 



1776.] jt*^ HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 191 



however, they ran aground, in endeavoring to carry out. 
Capts. Kent and Henry, during the night threw up a small 
breastwork opposite the schooner to prevent the captors 
from carrying her off; jmd early next morning the tender 
attempted to dislodge them. After a heavy fire of an hour, 
the tender was compelled to sheer off, without her prize. 
The enemy having withdrawn, Capts. Kent and Henry were 
ordered by the Maryland committee of safety to return to 
the province. 

Congress looking to these maritime depredations, found 
it necessary to establish a continental navy, that the ex- 
pense of defending the sea coast might be equally borne by 
all, and not left to the few and scattered ships of the different 
colonies, incapable of concentrated effort and therefore 
useless as a means of co-operation with the army. On 
the 5th of June, the gallant Nicholson received a com- 
mission in the new navy, and took command of the con- 
tinental frigate Virginia. Many other Marylanders also 
entered into the service, among whom none were more 
distinguished than Captain William Halleck and Joshua 
Barney, who had shared in the attack on New Providence. 
Early in the year, the first continental fleet sailed from 
Philadelphia, under Commodore Hopkins. The stars and 
stripes were hoisted off that city amidst the acclamations of 
thousands. The fleet consisted of five ships, fitted out at 
Philadelphia: the Columbus, of 36 guns and 9 swivels; the 
Cabot, of 32 guns; the Andrew Doria, the Providence, and 
the Fly, ranging from twenty-four to fourteen guns. At 
the Capes they were joined by the Hornet and the Wasp, 
from Baltimore. Their destination was secret. 

In the midst of this state of actual hostilities, Mr. Eden 
still remained in the province, its ostensible governor, while 
the real supremacy was in the hands of the convention. 
His easy and affable manners, the politic course he had 
adopted towards the patriots, and, more than all, his utter 



192 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1776. 

want of power to hurt, had as yet preserved him from the 
exile which had been the fate of other provincial governors. 
Heretofore, too, he had been apparently neutral in the 
contest; but certain letters from Lord Germaine, of the 
English ministry, through Lord Dunmore, approving his 
conduct and commandinoj him to hold himself in readi- 
ness to assist the crown when occasion should present, 
having been intercepted by a Maryland cruizer, it was no 
longer deemed prudent to permit him to remain. General 
Charles Lee, then at Charlestown, into whose hands the 
letters were placed, immediately wrote to the committee of 
safety at Baltimore, advising that the person and papers of 
Mr. Eden should be at once secured. Mr. Purviance ap- 
plied to Major Gist, who commanded the newly raised 
regulars of the Maryland line then at Baltimore, and Capt. 
Samuel Smith's company was detached for that purpose. 
The committee of safety of Maryland, resented this pro- 
ceeding on the part of the military, summoned Capt. Smith 
before them, and, after reprimanding him, ordered him to 
return to Baltimore. At the same time, however, consid- 
ering the presence of Governor Eden no longer consistent 
with the safety of the colony, they gave him notice to 
depart, which he did on the 24th of June, on board "the 
Fowey," despatched by Lord Dunmore to receive him. 
This nobleman, who had already ravaged Virginia, now 
made his appearance in the Potomac and threatened Mary- 
land with his vengeance ; and the convention found it 
necessary to order the militia to the coast, to cut off his 
communication with the disaffected and to protect the in- 
habitants from plunder. At the same time, they earnestly 
set about organizing their portion of the flying camp, which 
conofress had called for from the middle colonies. The 
quota to be furnished by Maryland, was three thousand 
four hundred and five men, to serve until December, unless 
sooner discharged by congress, under whose control they 



1776.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 193 

were placed.* But a period was now at hand in which all 
minor notes of preparation were absorbed in that great and 
final step, the Declaration of Independence. 

TheDeciara ^^^ ^ ^^"^^ ^^® people had Still looked forward 
uon of inde- to a reconciliation and an adjustment of their 
pen ence, rights, and, while they resisted arbitrary exactions, 
always professed their readiness to submit to due authority. 
But their feelings towards Great Britain were rapidly under- 
going a change. The war, which had been commenced 
against the measures of the ministry, arrayed itself against 
the claims of the crown. The tyranny of the king absolved 
the allegiance of the people. The battles fought during 
the past year, the victories obtained, and the sufferings so 
patiently endured, taught the patriots their own strength ; 
and the mad persistence of England, in pouring new troops 
into the country to conquer, rather than conciliate, aroused 
a spirit of hostility, which rendered compromise or submis- 
sion impossible. The colonists had gone too far to pause 
or to recede — they could only advance. They must either 
be subdued rebels or triumphant freemen. There was but 
one more step and as the great idea of nationality swelled 
within the breasts of the patriots, the chains of habitual de- 
pendence burst from around them, and the last emblem of 
colonial subjection sunk into the dust. Yet many ardent 
patriots paused ere they consented to adopt the measure, 
clinging to the hope of reconciliation : such even was the 
position of Maryland, as long as justice seemed to demand 
it ; — but when the time came, she was not wanting to her- 
self and the common cause. 

As early as May, congress, looking to a long contest, 
recommended the colonies to adopt permanent govern- 
ments for their internal regulation ; and, on the 7th of June, 
Richard Henry Lee, introduced his famous resolution, " that 
the united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and 

* Appendix B. 

17 Bb 



194 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [177G. 

INDEPENDENT STATES, and that all political connexion be- 
tween them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to 
be, totally dissolved." This resolution was debated from 
time to time, and the conventions of the several colonies, 
except Pennsylvania and Maryland, immediately directed 
their delegates to vote in its favor. The convention of 
Maryland had instructed their representatives in the pre- 
cedinor December, and had renewed that instruction in 
May, to endeavor to heal the differences with the mother 
country; and, at the same time, secure the full and com- 
plete liberties of the colonists under the British constitution. 
At all events, they were not to vote for any severance of 
existing relations, or an alliance with any foreign power, 
without the previous advice and consent of the convention. 
Before the convention assembled again on the 21st of June, 
a change had been wrought in public feeling, and the first 
question, which was agitated in that body, was the all ab- 
sorbing one of independence. The delegates to congress 
were ordered to obtain permission to attend the convention, 
and to have the national question postponed until their re- 
turn with the final resolve of Maryland. 

On the 28th, it was unanimously ordered that the dele- 
gates to congress should unite on behalf of the province in 
declaring the colonies free and independent, reserving to 
the State however, complete internal sovereignty.* Princi- 
pally instrumental in obtaining the passage of this resolution, 
was Charles Carroll of Carrollton, who had just returned 
from an arduous mission to Canada, whither he, with the 
Rev. John Carroll, afterwards first archbishop of Baltimore, 
Mr. Chase of Maryland, and Benjamin Franklin of Penn- 
sylvania, had been sent by congress, to induce the Cana- 
dians to unite in the struggle against British aggression. As 
a reward for his labors in behalf of the measure in conven- 
tion, he was, on the 4th of July, chosen a delegate to con- 

* Conventions. 



1776.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 195 

gress in conjunction with Matthew Tilghman, Thomas 
Johnson, jr., William Paca, Samuel Chase, Thomas Stone, 
and Robert Alexander. 

On the 2d of July, Lee's resolution was passed ; and the 
Declaration of Independence, which had already been pre- 
pared was introduced, discussed and amended. On the 
4th, it was adopted, and was signed by the delegates in con- 
gress assembled. Charles Carroll, one of the richest men 
of his day, having been chosen delegate after its passage, 
might have avoided the signature of a document which, had 
England conquered, would have been the recorded evi- 
dence of his treason. "There go some millions," exclaim- 
ed a member as he added his name to the great instrument; 
''Nay, there are several Charles Carroll's, he cannot be 
identified," said another in his hearing: and immediately 
he added to his signature, "of Carrollton," the name of his 
estate and used to designate him particularly. 

The declaration of Independence, solemnly attested and 
signed by the delegates in congress and approved by the 
colonies, was every where received with the most enthusi- 
astic feelings. It was read at the head of the armies of the 
new republic, and proclaimed amidst the applause of a 
people, determined to maintain it with their blood. On the 
22d of July, it was publicly read at Baltimore, at the head 
of the independent companies and the militia, accompanied 
with salvos of artillery and "universal acclamations, for the 
prosperity of the United States." At night, the town was 
illuminated ; and an effigy of the king of England paraded 
through the streets and burhed in derision of his forfeited 
authority. 

This step having at length been taken, it was necessary 
to frame a permanent government for the new State, and 
the convention ordered elections to be held for delegates 
to a convention to form a constitution. Then having con- 
fided the supreme power into the hands of the committee 



196 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1776. 



of safety until that body should be assembled, it adjourned 
on Saturday the 6th of July. One of its last acts was to 
place the State troops at the disposal of congress. The 
battalion, under Col. Smallwood, and the independent com- 
panies in Talbot, Kent, Queen Anne's and St. Mary's coun 
ties, attached to his command, were ordered to proceed to 
Philadelphia and report themselves to the chief continental 
officer there, to be marshalled at once into the national 
service. By another resolve, in obedience to a requisition 
of congress, they directed the raising of two companies of 
riflemen and four of Germans, of ninety officers and men 
each — one of rifles from Harford— two of Germans, from 
Baltimore and one of rifles and two of Germans — from 
Frederick county.* The different county committees were 
required to despatch the companies of the flying camp as 
fast as they were organized, and the State committee of 
safety, to superintend the immediate march of the regulars 
under Smallwood. 

* See Appendix for officers' names. 




CHAPTER IX. 
®l)e BattUa of tl)c ®llJ UTaralautr £me. 



1776. 



After evacuating Boston, General Howe had retired to 
Halifax to wait for reinforcements. But conceiving the 
design of seizing New York, whose inhabitants were favor- 
able'to British supremacy, and cutting off the northern from 
the middle states, he embarked for that port and arrived off 
Long Island, towards the close of June. There were but 
few American troops on the Island, placed there for the 
purpose of carrying off the cattle; and he landed without 
opposition. He was received with the greatest demonstra- 
tions of joy by a portion of the inhabitants of Long Island, 
New York and New Jersey; many of whom took the oaths 
of allegiance, and embodied themselves into a corps under 
the command of Tryon, the late royal governor of New 
York. In the early part of July, admiral Lord Howe jomed 
his brother with a fleet of 150 sail and a reinforcement of 
20,000 men— swelling his force to 30,000. The American 
army under Washington, after being reinforced by several 
bodies of militia, amounted only to 17,000 men, of whom 
nearly one fifth were sick and unfit for duty. 

It was at this dark hour, that the Maryland line was des- 
tined to enter the field, and bear the first shock of battle. 
No sooner was the approach of Howe known in Maryland, 
than Smallwood's regiment took up its route for the seat 
of war. On the 10th of July, six companies under Small- 
wood himself, from Annapolis, and three from Baltimore, 
embarked for the head of Elk river,* whence they marched 
^ ^^ * Annals of Annapolis. ^^'^ 



1^^ HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1776. 

^o New York and were incorporated into Lord Stirling's 
brigade. Well appointed and organized, composed of 
young and spirited men who had already acquired the skill 
and precision of drilled soldiers, and coming at a time 
when the army was lamentably deficient in discipline, they 
immediately won the confidence of the commander in 
chief; and, from the moment of their arrival, were thrown 
upon the advanced posts and disposed as covering parties. 
On the 20th of August the four independent companies 
remaining in Maryland, were ordered by the convention 
to join Col. Smallwood, and plape themselves under his 
command, thus incorporating the whole force of 1444 men 
in one body. The brigadier general of the Maryland flying 
camp now rapidly organizing, was also ordered to be sub- 
ject to Col. Smallwood's command, and the county com- 
mittees were urored to hasten the enrolments and forward 
the men to the camp as fast as possible.* 

„ ... . From the 21st of August to the 27th, the British 

Battle of o ' 

Brooklyn were Occupied in landing their forces on Long 
^'^^^' Island. On the 30th the Maryland troops, to- 
gether with those of Delaware, were ordered over to the 
scene of the approaching conflict. Col. Smallwood, and 
Lieut. Col. Ware, were detained in New York, sitting on 
a court martial ; they applied in vain to Gen. Washington 
to permit them to accompany their men, and the battalion 
marched under the command of Major Gist. The American 
army under Putnam, was drawn out to occupy the passes 
and defend the heights between Flatbush and Brooklyn. 
During the night of the 26th, Gen. Clinton, with the van of 
the British army, silently seized one of the passes and made 
his way, about day-break, into the open country in the rear 
of the Americans. He was immediately followed by an- 
other column under Lord Percy. To divert the attention 
of the Americans from their left, another division under 
* Conventions of, &c. 



1776.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 199 

Grant, marched slowly along the coast, skirmiishing with 
the light parties on the road. 

Putnam fell into the trap ; and Stirling was ordered with 
two regiments, one of which was the Maryland battalion, to 
meet the enemy on the route to the narrows. About break 
of day he took his position advantageously upon the summit 
of the hills, and was joined by the troops driven in by the 
advancing columns of the enemy. For several hours, a 
severe cannonade was kept up on both sides, and Stirling 
was repeatedly attacked by the brigades under Cornwallis 
and Grant, who were as often gallantly repulsed. At length, 
the left wing of the American force having been completely 
turned by Clinton, and the centre under Sullivan, broken 
at the first attack of Gen. De Heister, the position of Stir- 
ling's brigade on the right, became perilous in the extreme. 
The passes to the American lines at Brooklyn were in the 
possession of an overpowering British force — two strong 
brigades were assailing him in front, and in his rear lay an 
extensive marsh, traversed by a deep and dangerous creek, 
eighty yards in width at its mouth ; nearer its head, at the 
Yellow Mills, the only bridge, which might have afforded 
the brigade a safe retreat, had been burned down by a New 
England regiment under Col. Ward, in its very hasty re- 
treat, although covered by the American batteries. The 
only hope of safety therefore for the gallant troops, who 
still maintained the battle and held the enemy at bay, was 
to surrender, or to cross this dangerous marsh and creek at 
its mouth, where no one had ever been known to cross 
before.* 

Col. Smallwood, having arrived from New York, and 
learned the perilous situation of his battalion, applied to 
Gen. Washington for some regiments to cover their retreat. 
After a moment's hesitation, as to the prudence of risking 
more troops upon a lost battle, unwilling to abandon these 
* Col. Smallwood's letter to convention. Annals of Annapolis. 



200 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1776. 

brave men to their fate, he detached him with a New Eno-- 
land regiment, Capt. Thomas' independent company, which 
had just arrived from New York, and two field pieces, to 
take a position on the banks of the stream and protect the 
remnant of the brigade in the attempt to swim it. 

The scene of the conflict was within a mile of the Ame- 
rican lines, and whilst Smallwood was hastening to their 
aid, Stirling prepared to make a last effort to check the 
advance of the enemy and give time to a portion of his 
command to make good its retreat. For this purpose, he 
selected four hundred men from the Maryland battalion, 
under Major Gist, placed himself at their head, and, having 
ordered all the other troops to make the best of their way 
through the creek, advanced against Cornwallis' brigade. 
As they drew out between the two bodies of the enemy, it 
was thought by the lookers on from the camp, that they 
were about to surrender, but as with fixed bayonets they 
rushed to the charge upon the overwhelming force opposed 
to them, fear and sorrow filled every heart, and Washington 
himself wrung his hands, exclaiming, " Good God ! what 
brave fellows I must this day lose."* Five times this little 
band charged upon the powerful forces of Cornwallis; and 
each time driven back, again gathered their energies for a 
fiercer assault, until at last upon the sixth, the heavy 
column of the British reeled under the repeated shocks 
and began to give way in confusion.! 

But in the very moment that victory seemed within their 
grasp, Grant's brigade assailed them in the rear, and fresh 
troops, the Hessians of De Heister, came to the aid of Corn- 
wallis in front. Already outnumbered more than ten to 
one, with their ranks thinned by the terrific slaughter, and 
worn down by long fighting, these devoted men could no 
longer make head against their foes. A portion, with Lord 
Stirling at their head, surrendered themselves prisoners of 
* Annals. f Lord StirUng's letter, Sparks, vol. 4, p. 516. 



1776.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 201 

war ; while three companies, animated by the most deter- 
mined valor, cut their way through the crowded ranks of 
the enemy, and maintained their order until they reached 
the marsh, where, from the nature of the ground, they were 
compelled to break, and escape as quick as possible to the 
edge of the creek. This desperate conflict gave time to the 
remainder of the brio^ade to make good its retreat across the 
marsh and swim the water, bringing with them twenty-eight 
prisoners. A heavy cannonade from four field pieces, was 
kept up by the enemy upon the retreating troops, and a 
strong column of Hessians advanced to attack them in the 
marsh, where they must have all been cut off, as their guns 
were already wet and muddy, but for the unlooked for fire 
of the reinforcements under Smallwood, on the opposite 
shore, which drove the pursuers back to the main land 
where they formed some six hundred yards distant, while 
the remnant of the Marylanders %wam the creek. Several 
of them, as well as some of the Pennsylvanians and Dela- 
wares, were drowned in the attempt, or perished in the 
marsh. Capt. Thomas' men aided materially in bringing 
over the exhausted survivors. 

The loss of the Maryland troops in this long contested 
battle was murderous. From sunrise until the last orun was 
fired upon the field, they were hotly engaged ; and, when 
the rest of the army had been routed or had fled, maintained 
the battle unaided, against two brigades of the enemy. 
"They were distinguished in the field," says a letter writer 
of that day, " by the most intrepid courage, the most regu- 
lar use of the musket, and the judicious movements of the 
body." Nearly half of their force was annihilated. Their 
loss in killed and wounded was 256 officers and men. Capt. 
Veazy and Lieut. Butler were slain ; and among the pri- 
soners were Capt. Daniel Bowie, also wounded — Lieuten- 
ants William Steret, William Ridgely, Hatch Dent, Walter 

Muse, Samuel Wright, Joseph Butler, (wounded), Edward 

Co 



202 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1776. 

Praul, Edward Decourcy ; and Ensigns James Fernandes 

and William Courts. To this day the people of Long 

Island point out to strangers, the spot, where half of the 

Maryland battalion stemmed the advance of the whole left 

wing of the British army when no other troops were left 

upon the field, and where the best blood of the State was 

poured out like water.* 

The Delaware and Pennsylvania troops also behaved v/ith 

great gallantry on that day. 

The position of the American army, at Brook- 
Retreat from ^ . . 

Long Island ]yn, had uow bccome precarious. The British, 
invested their works in form, and it was deter- 
mined to retreat to New York before the ferry should be 
occupied by the enemy's fleet. On the night of the 29th, 
this masterly movement was effected. Although the Mary- 
land troops had enjoyed but one day's rest, since their 
bloody defence at Friclt's Mill Pond— or "the Yellow 
Mills," — they were ordered on duty at the advanced post of 
Fort Putnam, within two hundred and fifty yards of the 
enemy's lines, and with two Pennsylvania regiments on the 
left, were to protect the retreat of the army. Under cover 
of a foggy night and morning the movement was happily 
effected, in spite of the disorder of the eastern troops ; and 
it was not discovered by the enemy until the last detach- 
ment of the Marylanders and Pennsylvanians was half 
way across East River and out of reach. Drawn off so 
silently, within ear shot of the enemy, as not to give the 
slighest intimation of their departure to his sentinels, the 
Maryland troops displayed, on this occasion, their steadi- 
ness and discipline as at Prick's Mill Pond they had proved 
their courage. Two days after this event, Col. Smallwood's 
reo^iment was ordered to Harlaem opposite to Montresore's 

* For the materials of this account of the battle— see Marshall and 
the Letters, &,c. in Ridgely's Annals, and Spark's writings of Wash- 
ington, vol. 4, pp. 74, 102, 613, 518 ; and Holme's Annals. 



1776.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 203 

and Buchanan's Islands, of which the enemy soon took 
possession ; so that a barrier of only two hundred yards of 
shallow water separated the two forces, across which the 
men easily conversed with one another. 

As the British were now throwing forward their forces 
to surround the Americans on York Island, and, it was 
found impracticable to defend the city, in the disorganized 
condition of the troops, a council of war resolved that the 
army should be withdrawn into the lines below fort Wash- 
ington. The more portable military stores had already been 
removed, when on the loth of September, the enemy ef- 
fected a landing without opposition, in the face of two 
brigades of Connecticut militia, who fled disgracefully at 
the first fire from sixty of the British light infantry ;* and 
who, although "from the brigadier down to the private sen- 
tinel they were caned and whipped by generals Washing- 
ton, Putnam and Mifflin," could not even be brought by 
the burning shame of this indignity "to stand one shot."t 
Disgusted with such cowardice. Gen. Washington imme- 
diately sent an express for the Maryland regiment, drew it 
from its brigade, and ordered it down towards New York, 
to cover the retreat of the army, knowing that he could 
rely upon its maintaining its position against all odds. 
Smallwood posted his regiment upon an advantageous 
eminence near the enemy, on the main road, where they 
remained under arms, the best part of the day until the last 
troops had passed : when the British dividing their main 
body into two columns, endeavored to out flank and sur- 
round him. Having maintained his position as long as it 
was necessary, and having received notice to retreat, he re- 
tired in good order and reached the lines about dusk. 
The heights ^"^ ^^^ next day, a body of British, about three 
ofHariaem. i^mnjigfi strong, made their appearance in the 

* Sparks, vol. 4 ; Marshall. 

t Col. Smallwood's letter to the Maryland conveution. 



204 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1776. 



plains below the American position, and the commander in 
chief, to habituate his troops to meeting the enemy, detach- 
ed Col. Knowlton, with a corps of New England rangers, 
and Major Leitch with three companies of the 3d Virginia 
regiment which had just arrived in camp, with orders to 
attack them. The assault was made judiciously. Early 
in the action, however, Colonel Knowlton fell, and Major 
Leitch was mortally wounded ; but the captains of the com- 
panies still maintained their position. A reinforcement of 
seven hundred men being received by the British, General 
Washington ordered up Major Price, with three of the Mary- 
land independent companies, and Col. Richardson's and 
Griffith's regiments of the Maryland flying camp, which had 
joined the army on the 8th of September. These troops 
attacked the enemy with the bayonet, drove them from 
their position and were pursuing them towards their lines, 
when the commander in chief ordered their recall. The 
loss of the Americans was about fifty killed and wounded, 
that of the enemy more than double that number.* 

Determined to force Washington from his position, or to 
surround and cut off his communications. General Howe 
landed a strong body of forces at Frog's Neck, about nine 
miles above Harlaem. The Maryland troops were imme- 
diately marched to King's bridge, to reinforce the detach- 
ments already there, and to watch the advance of the enemy. 
At the same time, it was determined by a council of war to 
evacuate York Island, posting, however, a sufficient garrison 
to maintain Fort Washington. Accordingly, leaving the 
force at King's bridge to cover the rear and to secure the 
removal of the heavy stores and baggage, the army began 
at once to retire. 

On the 18th of October, having been rein- White Plains, 
forced, Howe commenced the pursuit, and after several skir- 
mishes with Glover's brigade took post on the 21st, at New 
* Sparks, vol. 4, p. 98. 



1776.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 205 

Roclielle, where he was joined by another strong body of 
troops. Both armies now moved towards White Plains, 
where an entrenched camp had been marked out, and al- 
ready occupied by a body of militia. As the enemy ap- 
proached, Gen. Washington concentrated his forces, and 
prepared to give him battle. On the right of the army, 
and about one mile from the camp, on the road from the 
North river, was a hill of which Gen. McDougal, with six- 
teen hundred men, including the Maryland battalion under 
Smallwood, was ordered to take possession. On the 28th, 
the enemy advanced in two columns to dislodge him. Col. 
Rawle, with a brigade of Hessians, made a circuit to fall 
upon the rear of McDougal, while Brigadier Gen. Leslie, 
with the 2d brigade of British troops, the Hessian grenadiers 
under Count Donop, and a Hessian battalion, assailed him 
in front. At the opening of the cannonade, the militia took 
to flight, and the artillery fell into confusion and retired. 
Smallwood's Maryland regiment w^as immediately advanced 
to the foot of the hill to meet the enemy ; a long and severe 
contest ensued. It sustained itself gallantly under the fire 
of fifteen pieces of the British cannon ; but at length, over- 
powered by numbers, it was compelled to give ground. 
The enemy moved with great resolution, upon the remain- 
ing forces, who made but a show of resistance, keeping up 
an irregular fire in their retreat. Putnam, with Beall's 
brigade of the Maryland flying camp, now came up to rein- 
force McDougal ; but, finding the foe already in possession 
of the hill, he deemed it imprudent to attempt to regain it, 
and drew off his men.* The loss of the Americans was 
between three and four hundred killed, wounded and taken. 
The Maryland line suffered severely : Colonel Smallwood 
himself was among the wounded. The regulars of that 
gallant corps, worn down by the hard service they had en- 
dured, and, the effects of their wounds, aggravated by the 
* Sparks, vol. 4, p. 528 ; Marshall. 

18 



206 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1776. 

want of proper medical attendance and hospital supplies, 
had been much weakened in their effective force. Even 
on the 12th of October, there were three hundred officers 
and men on the sick list — many of them incapable of doing 
duty — Majors Price and Gist, and Capt. Stone, were lying 
ill in New Jersey ; and Col. Smallwood and Lieut. Col. 
Ware, even prior to the battle, were scarcely able from debi- 
lity to command their troops.* Yet under all these trying 
circumstances, almost without field officers, the Maryland 
line displayed its wonted valor at White Plains, and, by its 
sustained resistance to an overpowering force, won new 
honor for its State. Its loss in this hard fought battle was 
over one hundred men ; and from this terrible slaughter 
may be estimated the obstinacy of its defence. It had 
fought three battles in the three last months ; it had been 
the first of the revolutionary troops to use the bayonet 
against the British regulars, and had used it freely and with 
effect in each one of these fierce conflicts. 

Gen. Washington continued to fortify his position ; and 
Howe, satisfied of its strength and the courage of the troops 
who defended it, determined to await the arrival of six 
more battalions which joined him two days after. Wash- 
ington, having now removed his stores and heavy baggage 
to a much stronger ground in his rear, unwilling to risk a 
battle with Howe's present force, withdrew during the night 
to North Castle, about five miles from White Plains, and 
stationed Gen. Beall's brigade of Maryland militia at the 
bridge over Croton river. Abandoning the hope of a suc- 
cessful assault upon his new position, Gen. Howe broke up 
his camp and retired slowly down the river, towards King's 
bridge, determined to obtain possession of Forts Washing- 
ton and Lee. As soon as the American commander 
learned from his scouts that Howe's march southward was 
not a feint, suspecting that he designed striking through the 

* Smallwood's letter in " Annals." 



1776.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 207 

Jerseys to Philadelphia, he divided his army and, leaving 
three thousand men at Peekskill, crossed the Hudson with 
the troops raised south and west of that river. 
The storm Anxious to preserve his little army, he had di- 
ing of Fort rocted the evacuation of Fort Washington, upon 
as ingion. ^^^ approach of the enemy, but having been as- 
sured of the spirit and resolution of the garrison, he deter- 
mined to risk its defence. On the 16th of November, Gen. 
Howe prepared to assail it. It was defended by some of 
the best troops in the American service, under the command 
of Col. Magaw, a brave and experienced officer. He had 
posted his men in three divisions. Col. Cadwallader of 
Pennsylvania, commanded within the lines : Col. Rawlings 
of Maryland, with his regiment of riflemen,* was stationed 
on a hill to the north of the lines ; while Magaw himself 
remained within the fort. Howe arranged his forces into 
four columns of attack, and about ten o'clock moved them 
to the assault. The first division of five thousand Hessians 
and Waldeckers, under Gen. Knyphausen, advanced against 

* This regiment was composed of three of the old rifle companies 
and four new ones from Virginia, and two from Maryland, ordered to 
be raised by congress, on the 27th of June, 1776. The officers were. 
Col. Stephenson of Virginia, Lieutenant Col. Moses Rawlings and Major 
Otho Holland Williams of Maryland. Two of the old companies were 
the Maryland companies, raised in the preceding year, which had 
served with the army before Boston. These companies were now com- 
manded by Captain Philemon Griffith, lieutenants Thomas Hussey 
Lucket, Adamson Tannehill and Henry Hardman, and Captain Richard 
Davis, lieutenants Daniel Cresap, Nieman Tannehill and Elijah Evans, 
all from Frederick county. The two additional companies were raised, 
one in Frederick, under captain Thomas Beale, lieutenants Peter Con- 
tee Hanson, James Lingan and Richard Dorsey ; and one in Harford, 
under Capt. Smith. Rawlings' regiment thus contained four Maryland 
companies. The four companies of Germans, raised in Harford, Fred- 
erick and Baltimore counties, under capts. Heiser, Graybill, Fister and 
Keeports, were formed into a battalion with four similar companies 
raised in Pennsylvania, under the command of Col. Hauseigger of 
Pennsylvania, and Lieutenant Colonel Strieker and Major Weltner of 
Maryland. — Journals of Congress ; Amencan Archives, ^c. 



208 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1776. 

Col. Rawlings on the north, while the fourth division moved 
against Cadwallader, and the second and third crossed the 
East river in boats and landed within the lines. The attack 
of the first and fourth divisions was received with great 
steadiness and spirit by the Maryland and Pennsylvania 
troops at their respective positions : but the detachment 
stationed on the East river soon gave way, and Col. Cad- 
wallader was compelled to draw off a portion of his men to 
their assistance. Thus weakened, his main body was soon 
overpowered and began to retire. 

Rawlings still maintained his ground with undiminished 
spirit, although not protected by entrenchments. Posted 
among the trees, his riflemen, the hardy sons of the Maryland 
and Virginia mountains, poured in upon the advancing 
column a murderous fire, which it in vain endeavored to 
sustain. The Hessians broke and retired. Ao^ain thev were 
brought to the attack, and again repulsed with dreadful 
slaughter. The Maryland riflemen remembered the destruc- 
tion of their brethren of the battalion at Frick's Mill Pond, 
by the Hessians, and did not forget to avenge it. But what 
could a single battalion of riflemen, even of such matchless 
skill and courage, effect, opposed to five thousand men with 
the bayonet, unsupported as they were, and alone continu- 
ing to maintain their position. Had every other post been 
defended as theirs was, victory would have crowned the 
American arms that day.* But all the other troops were al- 
ready in full retreat. The three divisions of the enemy were 
about to fall upon their rear, whilst in front they contended 
with a force far greater than their own. At length by sheer 
fighting and power of numbers, the Hessians reached the 
summit of the hill. Rawlings, perceiving the danger to his 
rear and learning the retreat of the Pennsylvanians, aban- 
doned his position, as no longer tenable, and retired under 
the guns of the fort. Being again summoned, Col. Magaw, 
* Marshall, Sparks, and Wilkinson's Memoirs. 



1776.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 209 

finding it impossible to maintain the post, as his ammunition 
was nearly exhausted, surrendered the garrison prisoners 
of war. Two thousand six hundred men, of whom two 
thousand were regulars, were taken prisoners — a severe loss 
to the American army. Among the captives were Major 
Otho H. Williams, lieutenants Luckett, Lingan, Davis and 
Evans, and others of the rifles. Some few of the Mary- 
landers escaped across the river.* The loss of the enemy 
was nearly twelve hundred killed and wounded, more than 
half of which was sustained by the Germans in their assault 
upon Ravvlings' Maryland and Virginia riflemen. 

Immediately after this disaster, Fort Lee was evacuated, 
and Washington, greatly weakened by the loss of men, re- 
treated on the Jerseys. The term, for which most of his 
troops were engaged, was about to expire and they began 
already to leave the camp in great numbers. Every eflfort 
to raise the militia of New Jersey and Pennsylvania to sup- 
ply their place, proved ineffectual ; and the American gene- 
ral commenced his famous retreat towards the Delaware. 
He reached the Raritan on the 1st of December, the day on 
which the term of the Maryland and Delaware flying camp 
expired, and he was compelled to discharge the greater 
portion in the face of the enemy. Some few remained as 
volunteers and many of the Marylanders re-enlisted in the 
new regiments then forming by the State. The Pennsyl- 
vanians, whose term extended to the 1st of January, began 
to desert in great numbers. With an army reduced to less 
than four thousand men, Washington retired slowly before 
the immense force of the enemy, the bare feet of his desti- 
tute soldiers leaving their foot prints marked with blood 
upon the frozen ground. On the eighth of December, he 
crossed the Delaware, secured all the boats so as to prevent 
the further advance of the British, and placed his diminished 
forces in positions best calculated to defend the passage of 
* Sketch of the Life of Everheart. 

IS* Dd 



210 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1776. 

the river. After a futile effort to obtain the means of trans- 
porting his troops across the Delaware, Howe distributed 
his men in winter quarters, on the Jersey shore, calmly 
awaiting the freezing over of the Delaware to march into 
Philadelphia, and expecting daily the dispersion of the shat- 
tered American army. 

The critical position of Philadelphia, the seat The Battle of 
of the federal government, the reduced condition Trenton. 
of his army and the despondency of the whole country, 
required at the hands of the American leader, a bold and 
vigorous stroke ; and he prepared to make it. With the 
few continental regiments of Maryland, Virginia, Penn 
sylvania and New York, Rawlings' and Hand's rifles, and 
the German baftalions, he opened the campaign in the 
midst of winter. In the dead of night, he crossed the Dela- 
v/are, at McKonkey's Ferry, with twenty-four hundred con- 
tinentals, and, dividing this small force, threw one column 
towards Trenton by the river road, and led the other in per- 
son to the same point, by the Pennington road. At eight 
o'clock, he drove in the out-posts and assailed the town. 
At the same time, the fire of the second division was heard 
in the opposite direction. The British under Col. Rawle, 
taken by surprise, attempted to form ; but they lost their 
commander in the very opening of the action, were thrown 
into confusion, and endeavored to make their escape by the 
Princeton road. A detachment, however, cut off their re- 
treat, and the whole body threw down their arms and sur- 
rendered. Twenty were killed and one thousand taken 
prisoners. The American loss was only two killed, two 
frozen, and five or six wounded. The victory was complete 
and almost bloodless. Yet one portion of Washington's 
extensive and beautiful design was not carried into effect. 
Gen. Irvine had been ordered to cross with his force and 
attack the enemy at Burlington, and Gen. Cadvyallader to 
come up on the rear of the enemy at Trenton. The former 



1776-7.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 211 

could not get his artillery over, prevented by the swollen 
current and floating ice : while the latter was unable to 
effect a passage with any portion of his troops : and thus 
that part of the comprehensive scheme, which aimed at 
sweeping the enemy from the Delaware, remained unexe- 
cuted. Owing to this failure a body of five hundred of the 
British, stationed in the lower part of Trenton, finding the 
road open, escaped to Burlington. With his prisoners and 
the captured stores, Gen. Washington immediately recrossed 
the Delaware to his former position. 

The Battle of The victory at Trenton raised the spirit of the 
Princeton, country : the new levies came in with more ra- 
pidity, and the American leader, to follow up his success, 
recrossed the river, and took up his position at Trenton 
with five thousand men. Immediately, a strong column of 
the enemy was advanced against him, and he retired behind 
the Assumpinx, which runs through the town. Finding all 
the passes guarded, the British encamped and lit their watch 
fires for the night, intending to begin the assault at break 
of day. During the darkness, having heaped up his camp 
fires with fuel to deceive the enemy, Washington drew off 
his army, and marched silently upon Princeton, where a 
smaller British force was stationed. As they neared the 
town, Gen. Mercer was despatched with his brigade, com- 
posed of the remnants of the Maryland regiment under 
Capt. Stone,* (afterwards governor of the State), the Dela- 
ware regiment, and some militia, numbering in all three 
hundred and fifty men, to destroy the bridge over Stony- 
brook, by which Lord Cornwallis must march if he came 
to the relief of the force at Princeton. One of the regi- 
ments, stationed at Princeton under Mawhood, had already 
commenced its march to join Cornwallis : at day break this 
detachment and Mercer's brigade came upon each other 

* Washington, in several of his letters, says that SmaJlwood's regi-. 
ment was now reduced to a mere handful of men. 



212 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1777. 

near the bridge. Mercer's brigade rapidly pressed on to the 
summit of a hill upon the road, and assumed an advantage- 
ous position behind a hedge near Clark's house. Mawhood 
attempted to dislodge him. At the first fire, Mercer's horse 
was disabled, and one of his colonels mortally wounded 
and carried to the rear. This caused a slight confusion, 
which was augmented by the death of Capt. Neal, who 
commanded the artillery, and Mercer himself, while endea- 
voring to rally his men, received a bayonet wound which 
proved mortal. Many of his troops were only armed with 
rifles, and, unable to withstand the bayonet, they broke after 
the third fire.* At this moment Washington ordered up 
the main body of the army, and, throwing himself into the 
midst of the fire of the enemy, led them on in person to 
the charge. He rallied Mercer's men, under a heavy can- 
nonade from the enemy, and the Pennsylvanians and the 
seventh Virginia regiment coming rapidly up, the whole 
body rushed forward with a loud cheer. The struggle was 
short and decisive. The British wers broken and routed.! 
The regiments in Princeton made but a moment's stand, 
and the Americans entered the town in triumph. One 
hundred of the enemy were killed on the spot, and three 
hundred taken prisoners : the loss of the Americans was 
about one hundred killed and wounded, among whom were 
many valuable officers. At break of day Cornwallis dis- 
covered that the American army was gone ; and suspecting 
the plan of Washington, hastily retraced his steps towards 
Brunswick to protect his magazines and heavy stores. His 
advance entered Princeton just as the rear of the American 
army abandoned it, on its way to assume a position at 
Morris town to recruit the men from the fatigues and hard- 
ship which they had endured. In both these battles the 
Maryland line sustained its reputation for courage, stea- 
diness and discipline. 

* Wilkinson's Memoirs, vol. 1, p. 142. t Jan. 3d. 



1777.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 213 

The good results of these victories were immediately felt ; 
confidence was restored, and the hopes of the people be- 
came brighter. They effectually recovered New Jersey 
from the British, against whom the Americans, constantly 
reinforced by militia from Maryland and the adjoining 
states, in spite of the severity of the season, maintained an 
uninterrupted partizan warfare, cutting off their foraging 
parties, striking their outposts, reducing them to great suf- 
fering for want of provisions, and yet always avoiding any 
decisive action. The British soon found themselves under 
the necessity of contracting their cantonments ; and, yield- 
ing to the masterly skill of their great opponent, abandoned 
most of their conquests. Thus closed the campaign of 
1776, a dark and bloody one, yet full of glory, to the Mary- 
land line, which, a powerful regiment at the opening in the 
month of Auorust, was now reduced down to a mere hand- 
ful of men under the command of a captain. Indeed the 
old or first line may be said to have been annihilated in the 
battles, which it fought, from Brooklyn to Princeton. 




CHAPTER X. 

THE NEW CONSTITUTION AND STATE GOVERNMENT. 

1776-7. 

XN the meanwhile, in compliance with the requisitions of 
the late convention, elections were held throughout the 
State on the first day of August, 1776, for delegates to a 
new convention to form a constitution and state govern- 
ment. The number of delegates, their qualification, and 
the qualifications of the voters, the judges of the election, 
and the mode of proceeding, were fixed by the resolutions 
which directed the holding of the elections. On the 14th 
of August, this new body assembled and organized by 
unanimously electing Matthew Tilghman president. After 
having devoted several days to the transaction of general 
business, which had accumulated since the adjournment of 
the late convention, and having completed their own organ- 
ization, the convention selected by ballot, the president, 
Messrs. Carroll, Paca, Carroll of Carrollton, Plater, Chase 
and Goldsborough, to prepare and report a declaration of 
rights and form of government. 

While this committee, composed of the ablest and most 
distinguished patriots of Maryland, were busily laboring at 
their arduous duty, the convention was directing the whole 
energies of the State to a vigorous prosecution of the war ; 
and, at the same time, conducting the general legislative 
and executive branches of the government. On the Gth of 
September, they divided Frederick county, and erected, out 
of parts of it, two new counties, Washington and Montgo- 
mery,-— thus named in compliment to the great commander 
in chief, and the gallant Irishman, who eight months be- 
fore, under the walls of Quebec, had laid down his life 

214 



1776.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 215 

battling for American liberty. On the tenth the committee 
reported the bill of rights and constitution, which were 
laid over, and on the 17th, ordered to be printed and dis- 
seminated among the counties for public information and 
discussion : and, to enable the delegates, to ascertain the 
sentiments of their constituents upon this all important sub- 
ject before they proceeded to act upon it, the convention 
adjourned until the 30th of the month. 

When that body reassembled, however, public business 
pressed so heavily upon them, that the consideration of the 
constitution and bill of rights, was postponed from day to 
day while matters of more immediate importance were dis- 
posed of. The condition of their troops and the lamenta- 
ble deficiency of arms and ammunition exacted immediate 
attention. Ample supplies were determined on, and the 
committee of safety were ordered to import, at the risk of 
the State, four thousand stand of arms, as many good gun 
locks, fourteen pieces of cannon, twenty tons of powder 
and forty tons of lead, to be purchased with wheat, tobacco, 
flour and other Maryland produce to be for that purpose 
exported by the State. 

Conorress moved by the remonstrances of Gen- 
New organi- '^^ •' 

zationof the eral Washington, and satisfied of the inefficiency 
''"^' of hasty drafts of militia in the field, at length 

resolved to raise a strong regular army, and called on the 
states to furnish eighty battalions of men. The quota of 
Maryland was set down at eight battalions numbering four 
thousand men, being one tenth of the whole army. The 
convention took the matter into consideration, and resolved, 
that, although the quota assigned to them, being founded 
on the joint amount of black and white population, was 
larger in proportion than that levied on the northern states, 
still, " desirous of exerting the most strenuous efforts to 
support the liberties and independence of the United States, 
they would use their utmost endeavors to raise the eight 



216 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1776. 



battalions demanded from them." But they refused to vote 
bounties of land to the recruits, in accordance with the 
recommendation of congress, lest, not possessing a suffi- 
cient quantity of unsettled territory, they should be involved 
in great difficulty in the fulfilment of such a pledge. They, 
therefore, determined to substitute a bounty of ten dollars, 
payable to each recruit instead of land. Four commis- 
sioners were immediately despatched to the camp to re-or- 
gpnize the Maryland troops, already in service, upon the 
new footing, and to induce as many as possible of the re- 
gulars, and militia of the flying camp, to enlist for the war. 
The independent companies were melted into a second 
battalion and the two ordered to be increased to the conti- 
nental standard. The commissoners were furnished with 
the blank commissions, sent by congress, and required to 
follow the advice and counsel of the commander in chief, in 
appointing and promoting the officers of the new battalions. 

Having thus disposed of the necessary military arrange- 
ments, the convention immediately took up the bill of 
rights and constitution. They were fully discussed from 
day to day, revised and amended, and, on the third of No- 
vember, the bill of rights was adopted. On the eighth of 
the same month, the constitution of the State was finally 
agreed to, and elections ordered to carry it into effect. 

While these two instruments were under dis- claims of 
cussion, Virginia adopted her constitution ; and, v^'^g»"ia. 
in one of its articles, insisted upon certain claims which 
infringed upon the known rights of Maryland — asserting 
jurisdiction over the Potomac, the Pocomoke and the Che- 
sapeake, and her old claims to the unsettled territory of the 
west. The convention immediately paused in their discus- 
sion, to maintain the rights of Maryland, unanimously and 
in the strongest terms denounced these pretensions, and 
insisted, that " if the dominion of those lands should be 
established by the blood and treasure of the United States, 



1776.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 217 

such lands ounht to be considered as a common stock, to 
be parcelled out, at proper times, into convenient free and 
independent governments." Again, in November, when 
addressing congress, they declared that this territory, claim- 
ed by the British government, if conquered fr-om them "by 
the blood and treasure of all, ought in reason, justice and 
policy, be considered the common stock of all."* Thus, 
while building up the fabric of their own State government, 
the sage legislators of Maryland marked out for futurity that 
grand system of expansion of the repubhc, which has since 
made this union one of the most extensive, flourishing and 
powerful nations of the earth. 

The form of Under the new constitution, the government 
government. ^^^^ composcd of three distinct branches, the 
legislative, the executive, and the judiciary. The legisla- 
tive authority was vested in a Senate and House of Dele- 
gates, whose several powers and privileges were appropri- 
ately marked out. The house of delegates was composed 
of four members from each county and two from each of 
the cities of Baltimore and Annapolis, chosen immediately 
by the people, viva voce, at elections held by the sheriffs 
of the counties at their respective court houses. The 
senate consisted of fifteen members, nine from the western 
and six from the eastern shore : their term of service was 
extended to five years, and they were chosen by a college 
of electors composed of two delegates elected viva voce by 
the people of each county, and one from each of the cities 
of Baltimore and Annapolis. 

The executive authority of the State was placed in the 
hands of a governor, elected annually by joint ballot of the 
two houses of the legislature : he was assisted, in the execu- 
tion of his oflice, by a council of five members, chosen by the 
same bodies. His authority was simply executive. He 
possessed no veto upon the legislative proceedings, and no 
* Conventions of .Maryland. 
19 Ee 



'4 



218 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1776. 

means of interference with that branch of the government. 
He was, by his office, commander in chief of the mihtary 
forces of the State, was vested with the power of appointing, 
by and with the advice of the council judicial and civil as 
well as military officers. The constitution, besides these 
and other ordinary powers, conferred upon him authority in 
matters which now appertain to the federal government. 

The judicial system of the State was composed of the 
general court, the court of chancery, and the court of ap- 
peals — besides a court of admiralty, whose jurisdiction was 
taken away by the adoption of the constitution of the United 
States, at a later period. The sheriffs of the different coun- 
ties were elected by the people, and the clerks of the courts 
were appointed by the judges. The register of wills re- 
ceived his commission from the hands of the governor. Two 
treasurers, one for the eastern and one for the western 
shore, were selected by the legislature; and a register of 
the land office of either shore nominated by the governor 
and approved by the senate. 

The elective franchise was limited by a property qualifica- 
tion, for the men of that day, just emerging from monarchical 
rule, were not prepared for the full and enlarged equality 
of later times. Every voter was required to be above the 
age of twenty-one years, to possess a freehold of fifty acres 
of land in the county in which he resided and offered to 
vote, or property within the State of the value of thirty 
pounds current money ; and to have been a resident of the 
State for one year prior to the day of election. The quali- 
fications of members of the legislature were still farther re- 
stricted. Besides the usual requisites of a voter, the amount 
of property which the aspirant to the house of delegates 
must possess to enable him to take his seat, was raised to 
five hundred pounds instead of fifty. Senators were re- 
quired to be above the age of twenty-five, and to own pro- 
perty of a thousand pounds in value ; while it was necessary 



177G.] HISTORY Or MARYLAND 219 

for the candidate for governor to possess a freehold of 
lands and tenements, of the value of a thousand pounds, to 
have resided three years iri the State prior to his election, 
and to have reached the age of twenty-five.* Many of 
these provisions have long since been stricken from the 
constitution by the wisdom of succeeding years ; and the 
capacity of a citizen to exercise the right of suffrage, to 
perform the duties of a legislator, or to fill the responsible 
office of governor, is no longer estimated by the breadth of 
his acres or the weight of his purse. But to judge rightly 
of the progress of that period, it must not be measured only 
by the present. It was many steps in advance of the period, 
which had preceded it, and it is not strange, that, though 
it saw much accomplished, it left much to be done by the 
future. All great and true works are the results of uncon- 
scious progress. 

Looking back from the point to which they had ascended, 
the members of the convention beheld, far below them, the 
scattered fragments of an overthrown monarchical rule, and 
proprietary government ; around were the incipient beauties 
of the new republic ; and before them the dim future of a 
destiny, whose boundless glory they could not well con- 
ceive. They did their work unconsciously, and it became 
the starting point of an unlocked for greatness. It was the 
inspiration of a noble idea working out its accomplishment 
by their hands. They met the wants of their time : but 
new wants sprang up, and it is the struggle and success of 
these, that create and constitute history. 

In their solemn and beautiful declaration of rights, the 
convention of 1776 defined the platform, upon which they 
stood: and so true was the inspiration of the spirit of free- 
dom, that the reforms and the progress of subsequent times, 
have been but little more than the evolution of the princi- 
ples, which were then announced. They declared the 
* Original Constitution of Maryland, 1776. 



m 



223 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1776. 

popular origin of government, while they insisted upon the 
submission of the people to the supreme authority consti- 
tuted by themselves: and they defined those rights of the citi- 
zen, which no power could absorb. They struck away the 
stain of church supremacy, and left the conscience of man 
as free and untrammelled as it was, when Leonard Cal- 
vert and his followers landed at St. Mary's. " It is the duty 
of every man to worship God, in such manner as he thinks 
most acceptable to him," was their noble proclamation to 
the world ; and if they confined the obligation and the pri- 
vilege within the limits of Christianity, it was because men 
could not yet understand a larger liberty. 

To introduce the new government, the consti- rphe first re- 
tution provided that an election should be held pubiicaa go- 
on the 25th of November, 1776, for senatorial gisiamre of 
electors, who were ordered to assemble at Anna- ^^^''J'^"'^- 
polis on the ninth of December, to select nine persons, of 
due qualifications, from the western and six from the eastern 
shore, to compose the first senate of Maryland. On the 
18th of December, an election was to be held in the several 
counties, for members of the house of delegates, and at 
the same time and place for sheriffs for the respective 
counties. The tenth day of February, was fixed for the 
beginning of the session of the General Assembly, and the 
second Monday of November, 1777, and annually thereafter, 
for the election of governor, by both houses on joint ballot. 
The legislature however, was authorized, in the meanwhile 
to elect a proper person to act as governor, until the regu- 
lar period appointed by the constitution for his selection 
should arrive. Having thus provided for the vigorous 
springing up of the germ which they were planting, and hav- 
ing appointed delegates to congress, with instructions to 
maintain unimpaired the independent sovereignty of Mary- 
land while they consented to a confederation with the sister 
states, the convention deposited the supreme power in the 



177C-7.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 221 

hands of the committee of safety, until the new government 
should arise phojnix like from the ashes of the old; and 
adjourned on the eleventh day of November, 1776. 
First Slate The elections took place at the specified times 
Legislature. ^yifi^Qut interruption : and on the fifth of Febru- 
ary, five days earlier than the period fixed by the conven- 
tion, the committee of safety, by virtue of the extraordinary 
powers vested in them, caused both houses of the legislature 
to assemble at Annapolis. The nature of their acts explain 
the pressing necessity, which had induced the committee 
of safety to call them together. During the panic created 
by the disastrous retreat through the Jerseys, congress, on 
the 12th of December, had removed from Philadelphia to 
Baltimore. On the 27th they conferred on Gen. Washing- 
ton extraordinary powers — for the raising of troops and the 
conduct of the war. Great efforts were, in consequence 
made to strengthen his army, which was soon further 
weakened by the battles of Trenton and Princeton. The 
effects of these battles, was such, however, as to relieve 
Philadelphia from immediate fear of the enemy, and, in 
February, congress again returned to that city. In each 
succeeding action, the Maryland troops had been further 
reduced, until Smallwood's battalion and the seven inde- 
pendent companies, which had entered the campaign four- 
teen hundred strong, had been worn down to a mere cap- 
tain's command ; and in the face of this great loss, and the 
largeness of the drafts made upon Maryland, it required 
unusual exertions to fill up the quota of eight battalions. 
The legislature, therefore, immediately turned their atten- 
tion to the recruiting service, which they endeavored to 
expedite. They also made every effort, to raise military 
supplies for the destitute soldiers in camp, and to provide 
means for transportation of the material of war through the 
State. The provisions of several of these laws very gra- 
phically represent the condition of the country at that 
19* 



222 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [ITTT. 

period, and the slender resources on which the army was 
compelled to rely. By the act of 1777, chapter 3d,* the 
governor was required to appoint, in every hundred or dis- 
trict, a blanket collector, whose duty it was to visit every 
dwelling house and compel the inhabitants to furnish, under 
oath, a statement of the whole number of blankets, which 
they possessed, and of the portion not in actual use ; one 
half of which surplus he was ordered to seize for the use 
of the army, paying their owners the appraised value in 
State issues. To favor enlistments in the national or state 
services, every recruit was exempted from arrest for debts 
under twenty pounds currency, and his property entirely 
freed from attachment or execution. To provide comfort- 
able quarters for the new recruits while preparing for the 
field, barracks were ordered to be erected at Frederick and 
the head of Elk, for the accommodation of two battalions 
each, and at Annapolis for one. At the same time that they 
thus provided for defence against the foreign enemies of the 
State, the legislature wisely turned their eyes upon those 
equally dangerous domestic foes, who by their restless in- 
trio-uino- and firm adherence to the British crown, weakened 
and distracted the energies of the patriots. A law was 
passed to prevent the growth of toryism, and to punish 
persons guilty of treason to their country ; and, as at such 
periods, promptness of action is more necessary even than 
severity, the governor was empowered to commission 
special courts for the speedy trial of culprits charged with 
these offences. On the 11th of February, the Assembly 
directed a proclamation to be issued against the disaffected 
in Worcester county, who, only repressed for a time by the 
active measures of the committee of safety for the Eastern 
shore, had again broken out in open insurrection. They 
offered pardon to all who would submit and disperse within 
thirty days excepting, however, fourteen of the leaders 
* Hanson's Laws. 



1777.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 223 

As the disturbed condition of the county appeared to re- 
quire active measures, to overawe the malcontents, Small- 
wood and Gist, then in the State superintending the forma- 
tion of the new line, were ordered to march thither with a 
Virginia regiment of regulars, the Annapolis independent 
company, the company of Matrosses and Captain Godman's 
Baltimore artillery. The promptness of these measures 
secured submission. The disaffected were disarmed — the 
most influential sent in custody to other and more loyal 
counties, and their estates placed in the hands of commis- 
sioners for safe keeping.* 

First State ^'^ accordance with the provisions of the consti- 
Governor. ^^tiQJJ^ the two houses proceeded, on the 13th of 
February to select a suitable person for governor of the State. 
Their choice fell upon Thomas Johnson. t On Friday, the 
21st of March, 1777, he was publicly proclaimed first repub- 
lican governor of Maryland, at the state house, in the pre- 
sence of a great concourse of people, the several branches 
of government, the civic authorities of the city of Annapolis, 
the military, and many strangers. The announcement was 
hailed by three volleys from the soldiery drawn up in front 
of the state house ; and a salute of thirteen rounds was 
fired from the batteries in honor of the new confederacy. 
A sumptuous entertainment was then partaken, and the 
festivities of the day were closed with a splendid ball : a re- 
newal of that ancient and festive amusement, for which 
Annapolis, the Athens of the colonies, had been so widely 
celebrated in the days of the Proprietaries, but which had 
been solemnly discontinued in the dark hours of the opening 
struggle. t Thus the new government was fully organized 
and in active operation : the general and county committees 

* Journals House Delegates, 1777; Journals of Congress. 

f The vote for governor was as follows : for Thomas Johnson, jr. 
40; Samuel Chase, 9; Matthew Tilghman, 1; George Plater, 1; Wm 
Paca, 1. t Annals of Annapolis. 



224 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1777. 



of safety surrendered up their powers and ceased to exist ; 
and the law of the constitution spread its asgis over the 
State. 

The Assembly having fully organized the new seven re- 
giments, required from the State, and settled the rank of 
the officers,* adjourned on the 20th of April ; on the 15th 
of June, however, they were again assembled, for a few 
days, to authorize the governor to detach a portion of the 
State's artillery companies to Philadelphia to join the con- 
tinental army, which was then very deficient in that arm. 
In the following October, they took measures to raise an 
additional quota of two thousand men to serve for three 
years in the Maryland line, assigning to each county a due 
proportion to be furnished by it, and made further prepara- 
tions to supply their men in camp with blankets and neces- 
sary clothes. With all their exertions, however, the gov- 
ernor and the legislature found it difficult to place their 
quota upon such a footing as they desired. Besides the 
regular complement of eight battalions required by con- 
gress to complete the army, the State furnished men to 
many other corps. At the solicitation of Gen. Washington, 
sixteen additional battalions were raised by congress, ex- 
clusive of the State lines. Colonel Nathaniel Gist's, and 
Hazen's regiments — the latter originally intended to be 
formed of Canadians — and Spencer's, Baylor's, and Lee's 
corps, were partly raised in Maryland ; and the legislature 
always extended to their officers and men in them the same 
gratuities and the same comforts, which they provided foi 
their own line, although those from the other states in these 
corps were too frequently neglected. Whilst they were 
thus busy in raising the material of war at home, their troops, 
under the new organization, were gallantly doing their duty 
to their country in the field. 

* See Appendix C. Only seven new battalions were organized : pro 
bably the Germans and rifles were considered equivalent to the eighth. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE CAMPAIGN OF 1777. 

After the battle of Trenton and Princeton, Washington 
maintained his position in New Jersey, and a constant 
series of skirmishes was kept up by his reduced army, of 
which scarcely more than a thousand were continentals. 
So severe had been the preceding campaign, that more than 
two-thirds of the regulars engaged had perished or been 
rendered unfit for service ; and when, by the arrival of the 
new recruits and quotas from the several states, the army 
was increased to eight thousand men, at least half of its 
number were totally ignorant of discipline and had never 
looked an enemy in the face. Thus weak and unprepared, 
Washington feared for the safety of Philadelphia, and with 
all the militia he could assemble, took post at a strong camp 
near Middlebrook. Howe, cautious in all his movements, 
even to timidity, feared to attack him, and resolved to ap- 
proach Philadelphia by another route. After a series of 
unavailinor movements, he embarked his whole force for the 
Delaware, but, changing his design at the mouth of the bay, 
suddenly made his appearance in the Chesapeake, on the 
21st of Auofust, with two or three hundred sail of men of 
war and transports.* 

Enemvinthe Gov. Johuson immediately issued his procla- 
chesapeake. jj^j^tion. Calling on the militia of the Slate to arm 
and hold themselves in readiness ; and directing that at least 
two companies out of every battalion should at once take 
up their march to the head of the bay. " To defend our 
liberties requires our exertions," exclaims this patriotic ap- 

* Sparks, vol. 5, p. 46; Annals. 
225 Ff 



226 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [^"77. 

pea], '' our wives, our children, and our country implore 
our assistance — motives amply sufficient to arm every one 
who can be called a man." Although the people every 
where answered the appeal by a resort to arms, influenced 
by those motives, which have always detained the militia in 
the vicinity of their homes when an invasion threatened 
them, few could be prevailed on to march to the head of 
Elk and leave their families unprotected against any sudden 
inroad of the enemy or his tory adherents. While, there- 
fore, the fleet hovered about the bay, the men of the neigh- 
boring shores, although armed and ready for defence, 
refused to be drawn from their homesteads, and the only 
reliance of the governor for disposable militia, was neces- 
sarily on the counties of the interior. The hostile fleet, 
however, havinor anchored for a while off the mouth of the 
Patapsco, proceeded to the head of Elk, where Howe in- 
tended to land his army and strike towards Philadelphia. 

While this invasion threatened the State, the Attack on 
Maryland line was engaged in the attack upon siaten island. 
Staten Island. Upon its increase to seven battalions, it 
had been divided into two brigades : the one composed of 
four battalions, was placed under the command of Small- 
wood who was promoted to the rank of brigadier general : 
and the other, formed of the three remaining battalions and 
Hazen's regiment, was assigned to Gen. Deborre, a French 
officer in the service of the confederacy.* Col. Richardson's 
battalion in pursuance of an order of congress, had been 
marched to Sussex county, Delaware, to overawe the tories 
of that State and the Eastern Shore. The British force 
stationed on the island ravaged the main land almost with 
impunity ; and Gen. Sullivan, who commanded the Mary- 
land division then lying at Hanover, conceived the design 
of attacking and carrying oflT a part of their force, consisting 
of a thousand tories stationed on the shore at some distance 

* Sparks. 



1777.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 227 

from the main body. For this purpose, he divided his 
troops into two columns : the first brigade under General 
Smallwood was to cross at Halsey's Point and attack Col. 
Buskirk's regiment, which lay near Decker's Ferry. The 
second, under General Dcborre, with a few Jersey militia, 
under Col. Frelinghuysen, was again subdivided when it 
reached the place of embarkation, twenty miles from its 
encampment. Here the troops found but six boats : three 
were allotted to Col. Oo^den, who commanded one detach- 
ment of Deborre's column, destined to attack Col. Lawrence 
at the old Blazing Star ferry, and Cols. Dungan and Allen, 
who were stationed about two miles from each other towards 
Amboy. The remaining boats were assigned to General 
Deborre, who accompanied by Sullivan in person, was to 
attack Col. Barton, near the new Blazing Star ferry, and 
then to form a junction with Ogden. , All the troops were 
transported into the island before daybreak. 

Misled by his guides. Gen. Smallwood commenced his 
attack at a diJETerent point from that intended, and Buskirk's 
regiment effected its escape : but Ogden and Deborre suc- 
ceeded to a very considerable extent. Lawrence and Bar- 
ton were completely surprised, and both of them, with 
several of their officers and men, were taken. The alarm 
being now given, it became necessary to draw off the troops 
as speedily as possible ; but from the scarcity of boats a 
portion of the rear guard fell into the hands of the British, 
after making a gallant defence against their main body, 
under Gen. Campbell. In killed, wounded and prisoners, 
the Americans lost 164 officers and men ; but brought off 
from the island 141 prisoners, of whom eleven were officers. 
In addition, the enemy suffered severely in killed and 
wounded in the several actions.* On his return from this 
expedition, General Sullivan received orders to join the 
commander in chief, and the Maryland line once more 
* Marshall; Sparks. 



228 HISTORY OF MARYLAND [1777. 

approached their native State. But many of them were 
destined never to enter its border. Finding their homes 
freed from the vicinity of the enemy, the militia of Mary- 
land, now began to assemble and march to the head of the 
bay; and Gen. Smallwood was ordered to leave his brigade 
and lead the men of the Western shore — while Col. Gist 
was detached from the line to lead those of the Eastern 
shore. Until the arrival of these officers, who were march- 
ing with the division from New Jersey, the militia w-ere 
placed under Gen. Cadwallader of Pennsylvania. Colonel 
Richardson's regiment of continentals was directed to pro- 
ceed from their station on the Eastern shore to the same 
place of rendezvous. Every exertion was made by the 
State, to aid and increase the army of Washington, who 
was now marching towards the Brandywine, resolved to 
risk a^battle in defence of Philadelphia. 

On the 25th of August, the British army landed Battle of the 
at the head of Elk, and, having destroyed the few «'-^d>'«^ine- 
public stores, which had not yet been removed, began their 
march upon Philadelphia. After several brisk skirnijshes, 
the Americans took post behind the Brandywine ; and on 
the 10th of September, the British advanced to force their 
position. The main body marched towards Chadd's ferry, 
and, after a short contest drove in Gen. Maxwell's briorade 
which had been thrown across the river to gall their 
advance parties. About eleven o'clock, Washington was 
informed that a strong body of the enemy, under Cornwallis 
having made a detour, was striking for Tremble's and Jef- 
frey's fords ; and he formed the bold design of crossing the 
river and attacking the column in his front. But having 
received conflicting information from Sullivan, he aban- 
doned the attempt. About two o'clock, it was discovered 
that the movement was real, and Sullivan, with the Mary- 
land line and Stirling's and Stephens' division, was ordered 
to change his position and meet Cornwallis. This was 



1777.J HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 229 

immediately effected after a rapid march ; but before he 
could form, his right wing, composed of the Maryland divi- 
sion, was attacked by the enemy; and Deborre's brigade 
broke after a slight defence. The centre followed. The right 
wing attempted to rally, but was again thrown into confu- 
sion by a brisk charge of the enemy ; and the whole line 
gave way. Washington, with Greene's division hurried to 
the scene of action ; he only arrived in time to cover the 
retreat of the army. At the same moment, General Knyp- 
hausen crossed at Chadd's ford, and drove back the forces 
stationed there to oppose him. 

The loss of the Americans was 300 killed, 600 wounded 
and 3 or 400 taken prisoners : that of the enemy was about 
five hundred killed and wounded. The defeat of Washing- 
ton's army in this battle has been justly attributed to the 
confusion, created by contradictory intelligence, and the 
careless manner in which Sullivan brought his men into 
action. It is certain that the Maryland line, although it 
behaved gallantly, scarcely sustained its ancient reputation 
while under him, nor equalled its subsequent glory when led 
by its own chiefs in the south. Deborre, who commanded 
one of its brigades was a foreigner, unpopular with his men 
and entirely without their confidence. His brigade was 
the first to break : his behaviour was made the subject of in- 
quiry by congress, whereupon he resigned his commission. 
It must be considered, however, that the division went into 
action without several of its principal and most popular 
officers. Gen. Smallwood and Col. Gist, who possessed 
the entire confidence of the men were absent at the head 
of the militia, leaving their corps without their usual leaders, 
a material circumstance with inexperienced troops. In ad- 
dition to this a misunderstanding occurred upon the field 
between Sullivan and Deborre, which necessarily increased 
the confusion. The night before the battle the men had lain 
on their arms, and slept but little ^they were under arms 
20 



230 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1777. 

and in line the whole day without food, and were hurried 
into action only half formed, after a rapid march and sudden 
change of position. The expedition of Sullivan against 
Staten Island had already excited dissatisfaction, and an 
inquiry in his conduct was ordered by congress. He was 
however, honorably acquitted. 

The American army retired towards Philadelphia, and 
encamped at Germantown to repose from its fatigues : but 
congress having resolved that another battle should be 
risked in defence of that city, Gen. Washington recrossed 
the Schuylkill and advanced along the Lancaster road. 
Gen. Smallwood, still in the rear of the enemy, was ordered 
to collect all the forces he could, to harass their march, 
and to cut off their foraging parties. The advance of the 
two armies came in sight, at Goshen, and a sharp skirmish 
immediately ensued : but a violent rain coming up, the 
American ammunition, which was badly secured, was ren- 
dered unfit for use, and the troops, being mostly without 
bayonets, were compelled to retire. The retreat was con- 
tinued across the Schuylkill, where a new supply of powder 
could be obtained, in time to risk another battle. This 
sudden movement placed Smallwood's troops in great jeo- 
pardy, unsupported in the rear of the British army. His 
force consisted of 1150 Western Shore militia, and 700 
Eastern Shore, under Gist, besides Richardson's regiment 
of the Maryland line. He was ordered to join the army at 
French creek — but before he could execute the movement, 
Gen. Wayne was detached to form a junction with him, 
and, thus strengthened, to harass the enemy's rear. 

On the night of the 20th September, General Defeat of 
Wayne bivouacked near Paoli, three miles from ^^yne. 
the enemy's camp. Learning his position from his spies, 
Howe despatched Gen. Grey to surprise him. The picket 
guards were driven in with the bayonet ; but the division 
instantly formed and several regiments by sustaining the 



1777.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



231 



attack with great firmness, gave time to the remainder to 
retreat. At the commencement of the action, Smallwood 
was about a mile distant from Wayne, not yet having joined 
him. His force, principally composed of raw militia, could 
not be relied on in a night attack : and, upon being assailed 
oy a part of the enemy, were routed with the loss of only 
one man. The continentals formed ao^ain at a small dis- 
tance from the first ground, but the enemy drew off without 
renewing the action. The American loss was about three 
hundred men ; that of the British only seven. 

Gen. Howe now moved on to take possession of Phila- 
delphia, which he did without further opposition ; as Wash- 
ington, weakened by the absence of Wayne and Smallwood, 
and not yet joined by the northern regiments, deemed it 
hazardous to risk another battle in its defence. He how- 
ever resolved to cut off the supplies of the enemy from their 
shipping, and to seize the earliest opportunity to strike 
them in detail. New obstructions were, therefore, thrown 
into the Delaware, to prevent the ascent of the fleet; and 
the garrison of Fort Mifflin strengthened by a detachment 
of several hundred continentals, under Lieut. Col. Samuel 
Smith of the Maryland line. 

BatueofGer- ^^ ^^^ distribution of the enemy's forces, a 
mantown. g^j-Qng body was cantoned at Germantown; 
Washington considered this a favorable occasion for a suc- 
cessful blow, and resolved to take them by surprise. The 
main body of the British was encamped in the fields west 
of the town and stretching towards the Schuylkill, on the 
banks of which was stationed a body of Hessians and 
chasseurs, forming their left wing. Their right, under 
Grant was posted on the east of the town, flanked by the 
Queen's rangers. On the night of the 3d of October, the 
American army advanced to attack them. The right wing 
under Sullivan, composed of his own division, consisting 
of the seven Maryland battalions and Hazen's regiment, 



232 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1777. 

and Wayne's division, sustained by Stirling's corps, and 
flanked by Conway's brigade, marched down the Skippack 
road leading over Chesnut Hill into Germantown, to attack 
the main body of the enemy. Gen. Armstrong, with a 
thousand Pennsylvania militia, was thrown along the Schuyl- 
kill to assail the Hessians and chasseurs. The left wingr 
of the Americans, under Green, composed of his own and 
Stephens' divisions, marched by the York road to attack 
Grant's force in front, while General Smallwood and Col. 
Gist — who by a singularly perverse policy were still kept 
from their proper commands in the line — at the head of one 
thousand Maryland militia, with Forman's Jersey militia, 
made a large circuit to the left, to strike the rear of his posi- 
tion. The whole army commenced its march from the 
camp at Matuchen hills, at nine in the evening; and the 
attack was to commence, at all points, at break of day. 

After marchinof all niorht the ri^ht winsf reached Chesnut 
Hill at the appointed time ; and a regiment from the second 
Maryland brigade, with one of Conway's, was detached to 
drive in the pickets at Allen's house. The picket was 
briskly assailed, but was soon reinforced by all the enemy's 
light infantry. The attacking regiments, however, main- 
tained their ground firmly until the whole Maryland division 
was brought to their assistance. They advanced in gallant 
style and with such resolution, that the light infantry were 
driven from the field after a close and sharp action of fifteen 
or twenty minutes, and their encampment fell into the hands 
of the victorious line, which during these movements had left 
the road and crossed into the field on the western side of 
the town. The light infantry, however, continued their 
resistance at every fence, wall and ditch ; and the assailing 
troops were much retarded in their pursuit by the necessity 
of removing every obstruction as they passed. In the pur- 
suit, a company of the 4th regiment, under Captain Daniel 
Dorsey, was thrown across the road and engaged with a 



1777.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 233 

body of the enemy, who had sheltered themselves behind 
the houses. As the Maryland division was pressing on, 
being already in advance of the rest of the army, Colonel 
Hall attempted to disengage and bring up Dorsey's com- 
pany, but was disabled by an accident, and the command 
of his regiment devolved upon Major John Eager Howard 
who hurried on his men through the encampment of the 
light infantry, and captured two six pounders before they 
reached Chew's house. Here they were fired upon by the 
British, who had thrown themselves into this strong build- 
ing, and Col. Hazen, then in command on the left of the 
Maryland line, halted in the rear of that position. 

In the meanwhile, the remaining regiments of the Hne, 
under Sullivan in person, pursuing the flying light infantry, 
came upon the main body of the enemy drawn up to receive 
them. A severe conflict ensued. Sullivan impatient of 
delay, at once ordered his Marylanders to advance upon 
them with shouldered arms ; they obeyed without hesitation, 
and the enemy after a sharp resistance again retired. 
Wayne had moved along the east of the town, and was 
now ordered to assail the right of the broken troops, which 
he did with great spirit. Maxwell's brigade had been 
halted at Chew's house and was assailing it gallantly but 
with great loss. Greene's division, at length made its ap- 
pearance on the extreme left, while Stephens' fell in with 
and joined Wayne's. The firing at Chew's house, which 
had become very heavy, now drew back Wayne's division, 
and distracted the several corps with the fear that the enemy 
was in force in that quarter. The morning was dark and 
hazy: and it was impossible to discover the exact position 
either of the British or of their own columns. The Vir- 
ginia line, under Stephens, after having fought with great 
gallantry, was thrown into disorder, when the enemy were 
in full retreat, by the approach of a party demanding quar- 
ter: and it was found impossible to rally them. 
50* Gq 



234 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1777. 

The Maryland line, — assisted by a regiment of North 
Carolinians and part of Conway's brigade, were now left 
open on their flank, by the movement of Wayne; and, hav- 
ing continued the pursuit a mile beyond Chew's house and 
expended all their ammunition, found themselves unsup- 
ported by any other troops ; while the enemy was again ral- 
lying on the left to oppose them. At this critical moment, 
when their apprehensions were excited by the heavy firing 
at Chew's house, a light horseman on the right gave the 
alarm, that the British were in their rear ; and the line per- 
ceiving the troops on their right flying from the field, began 
to retreat in spite of the exertions of their officers. They 
had already been engaged for three hours in severe fighting, 
and this, added to the long march of the preceding night, 
rendered them physically unable to continue the action. 
They, however, brought off" all their cannon and their 
wounded. Their loss was several hundred, principally 
wounded ; Col. Stone of the 1st and Major Forrest of the 
3d regiment, besides many other officers, were among the 
number. Smallwood's division of Maryland and Foreman's 
Jersey militia, were unable to form a junction with Greene's 
division, being detained by a breast work which the enemy 
had thrown up at Lucan's Mills. 

It being impossible to restore order, the troops were 
withdrawn, having sustained a loss of eight hundred killed 
and wounded and four hundred prisoners. The enemy, 
according to their own accounts, did not lose more than 
five hundred men. The steady valor of the Maryland 
troops, on this occasion, won for them the highest enco- 
miums from their commander. Gen. Sullivan. They were 
the first in action and most constantly engaged ; and had 
already routed two bodies of the enemy, and pursued them 
for several miles, from the first point of conflict during the 
space of an hour and a half, before Greene's division came 
up, and were still actively engaged when the rest of the 



1777.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 235 

army was retiring. To the want of exact co-operation, 
occasioned by the darkness of the morning, and the delay 
of some of the columns by unforseen circumstances, must be 
attributed the difficulties of the day, which created a panic 
and snatched from their hands a victory already won.* 
Fort Mifflin. Wasliiufrton a^ain resumed his position on the 
Skippack: while the enemy turned their attention to open- 
ing their communications with their fleet by the Delaware. 
For this purpose, it was necessary to secure the reduction 
of fort Mifflin. In order to compel an evacuation of the 
work, the enemy erected a battery at the mouth of the 
Schuylkill. It was immediately silenced by Commodore 
Hazlewood with his fleet of galleys, in which lieutenant, 
afterwards Commodore Barney, of Maryland, served with 
distinction. On the following night, the enemy crossed to 
Province island, and erected another, which efl"ectually 
commanded the block-house at fort Mifflin. The fire of 
the fleet soon compelled its garrison to strike their flag, 
but while the boats were conveying the prisoners to the 
ships, a heavy column of the enemy again took possession 
of the redoubt in spite of the fire from fort Mifflin. Col. 
Smith now attempted to take it by storm, but was twice 
repulsed : and his numbers being reduced to one hundred 
and fifty effective men, by the heavy fire of the redoubt and 
the severe duty of his post, he was compelled to ask for 
reinforcements. A Virginia and a Rhode Island regiment 
were sent to his assistance under the Baron D'Arendt, who 
was directed to take command of the whole force. Upon 
being thus superseded, Col. Smith demanded permission to 
rejoin his regiment, but being satisfied by the explanation 
of the commander in chief and his just commendations of 
his gallant conduct, he consented to remain. D'Arendt 
was soon compelled by ill health to retire from the island, 
and he again resumed the command. On the 22dj Count 
* Marshall ; Sparks, vol. 5, pp. 80, 468. 



236 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1777. 

Donop attacked Red Bank, with twelve hundred men, but 
was repulsed with the loss of five hundred killed and 
wounded. At the same time, the British fleet and batteries 
opened upon fort Mifflin : their fire was gallantly returned, 
and two of their frigates were destroyed. To reward the 
brave defence of the Delaware, congress voted swords to 
Colonels Green and Smith, and Commodore Hazlewood. 

But the communication with Philadelphia was too im- 
portant to the British to be abandoned, and General Howe 
caused floating batteries to be constructed, to attack the 
post from the north, while the fleet and the batteries on the 
shore kept up a heavy fire on the other sides. On the 10th 
of November, a new and heavy battery was opened from 
Province Island, and the fleet approached as near as the 
obstructions in the river would permit. The condition of 
the fort became critical in the extreme ; the works were 
battered to the ground, and the men, no longer covered, 
were killed and wounded in great numbers. Col. Smith 
himself was disabled; yet for six days, this fort was main- 
tained, with the most determined courage. On the night 
of the 16th, being no longer tenable, it was evacuated. 
The garrison of fort Mercer was soon after withdrawn, on 
the approach of Cornwallis; a part of the flotilla was burned, 
the remainder escaped above Philadelphia : and the British 
obtained complete command of the Delaware. 

Early in December, Howe marched his forces out of the 
city, as if to attack the American army, and a slight skir- 
mish ensued between his advance and the Pennsylvania 
militia who were soon dispersed. On the seventh, he ap- 
proached near the main army ; and Washington, believing 
a general action at hand, threw Gist, with his Maryland 
militia and Colonel Morgan's rifles, forward to attack their 
front and flank. The assault was made with great spirit, 
and, after a severe skirmish, the enemy's advance parties 
driven back ; but being strongly reinforced, they in their 



1777-8.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 237 

turn compelled Gist and Morgan to retire. Washington, 
unwilling to descend from his strong position and fight the 
battle in the plain below, withheld his reinforcements and 
prepared for a desperate defence of his camp. On the next 
day, finding it impossible to take him at disadvantage, the 
enemy retired to their quarters in the city. Their loss, in 
the action with the Maryland militia and the rifles, was 
upwards of one hundred killed and wounded : that of the 
militia sixteen or seventeen wounded, and of the rifles, 
twenty-seven killed and wounded.* 

In a few days after, the main body of the American army 
went into winter quarters at Valley Forge. The Maryland 
line, however, under Smallwood, now reduced to 1400 men, 
was stationed at Wilmington, to protect the State of Dela- 
ware from the incursions of the enemy. Whilst on that 
service, a detachment succeeded in capturing a British brig, 
in the Delaware, laden with stores and provisions which 
made their winter quarters comfortable when compared to 
those of Valley Forge. Amongst other property on board, 
were several valuable medical manuscripts, belonging to 
Dr. Boyes, a British surgeon of the 15th regiment ; these 
papers, Washington, with a characteristic nobleness of 
heart, directed to be returned to Dr. Boyes, saying that he 
wished to prove to the enemy, that Americans did not war 
against the sciences.! 

Howe, having resigned, was succeeded by Gen. Clinton, 
who received orders in the spring to evacuate Philadelphia. 
France had resolved to aid the struggling Americans against 
the power of her ancient foe and rival, England. Some of 
her chivalrous sons, with the great and good Lafayette, 
were already battling under the folds of the stars and stripes 
in behalf of liberty ; but now the sympathies of the nation 
were aroused, and all France threw herself into the conflict. 
An alliance oflfensive and defensive, was concluded with 
* Sparks, vol. 5, p. 182. t Ibid. 196-223. 



238 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



[1778. 



the envoys of the United States ; and a powerful fleet and 
army were at once despatched to the American coast, Phil- 
adelphia was easily accessible to a French fleet: and the 
British government, therefore, directed its evacuation. This 
was the first fruit of the new alliance. 



) 




CHAPTER XII. 

, '78AND'79. 

\JN the 17th of March, 1778, the legislature again assem- 
bled at Annapolis. In compliance with the earnest request 
of the commander in chief, congress had called on the 
several states for an increase of their forces: the quota 
demanded from Maryland was two thousand nine hundred 
and two men. To insure their speedy enlistment, the 
legislature assigned to each county its due proportion of 
the whole number, deducting the two companies of artil- 
lery already furnished to the army and the recruits on 
hand.* To render this arrangement effective, it was pro- 
vided that if the counties could not fill their quotas by 
voluntary enlistments before the 20th day of May, the mili- 
tia should be subdivided into classes, and, if each class did 
not furnish one man within five days, a draft of one of 
their own number should be made. The recruits as fast as 
raised, were ordered to be forwarded to the head quarters 
of the Maryland line, unless otherwise directed by the 
commander in chief. 

While this extraordinary draft was thus being filled. 
Count Pulaski, a gallant Pole, was busily engaged forming 
his legion, under the authority of congress partly in this 
State, and partly in Delaware. He succeeded in raising a 

* The proportions of the several counties were as follows: St. Mary's, 
140; Kent, 128; Anne Arundel, 185; Calvert, 74; Charles, 145; So- 
merset, 130; Dorchester, 158; Baltimore, 281; Prince George's, 163; 
Cecil, 145 ; Talbot, 105 ; Queen Anne, 145 ; Worcester, 138 ; Frede- 
rick, 309; Harford, 103; CaroUne, 108; Washington, 120; Montgo- 
mery, 156. 
230 



240 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [177S. 

corps, which afterwards did good service to the country, 
and led it on until he perished at its head, victoriously 
entering a battery which he had stormed at Savannah. It 
seems surprising, at this day, how the scanty population of 
Maryland, distracted as it was by internal divisions, could 
have supplied so many demands upon it; and at the same 
time quelled all domestic resistance. In Somerset county, 
a great degree of disaffection still continued, in spite of the 
repeated failure of every attempt at insurrection. The le- 
gislature now adopted further and more rigorous measures 
to suppress these outbreaks. The governor was authorized 
to order out the militia of any county, if the occasion re- 
quired their assistance ; to march a portion of the compa- 
ny of matrosses into the infected districts ; to fit out as 
many of the armed boats or galleys of the State, as he 
should deem necessary, to guard the coast, and to raise a 
permanent independent company of one hundred men to 
be stationed on the Eastern Shore during the war.* They 
also conferred upon the executive almost dictatorial au- 
thority, in case of invasion of the State or of a neighboring 
State by the enemy, for raising and arming men, and sup- 
plying provision, clothes, forage and means of transpor- 
tation. These extensive powers were placed, without 
hesitation, in the hands of Thomas Johnson, who had been 
re-elected governor by the legislature in the preceding 
fall, and whose sterling patriotism and public virtue merited 
the confidence which was reposed in him. It was not 
abused. Indeed the exigences of the revolution, frequent- 
ly called forth exhibitions of integrity and self devotedness 
worthy of the old Roman patriots and sages. 

In addition to these State affairs, the governor was fully 
occupied in endeavoring to supply the exhausted maga- 
zines, formed for the support of the continental army. The 
severe winter spent by the army at Valley Forge, had 
* Hanson's Laws. 



1778.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 241 

almost drained the State : for the northern and southern 
states had been very slow in sending in their quotas of 
provisions, and it was feared that its available resources 
were nearly exhausted. It, therefore, required the greatest 
energy on the part of the executive to aid the quarter- 
master's department. The governor and his council were 
also occupied in carrying into effect the measures of the 
legislature to supply the quota of the State to the contin- 
ental army. The stringency of the act and its speedy and 
exact enforcement, produced the most beneficial effects. 
By the middle of June, before the other states had well 
moved in the matter, except New Jersey, the Maryland line 
was raised to its full complement.* 

New elections having taken place, the second General 
Assembly of Maryland was convened at Annapolis, by 
Governor Johnson, on the 19th of October, 1778. The 
session was important : and was rendered even more inter- 
esting by a warm controversy between the two houses, 
which was excited by an attempt of the house of delegates 
to increase the pay of its members, from twenty-five to forty 
shillings per day.f The house contended that the insuffi- 
ciency of the per diem, as it did not cover the actual expense 
of a member while in Annapolis, would prevent many ho- 
norable and efficient men of small means from servinor in 
that body, thus tending to form an aristocracy of wealth 
in the legislature. Tlie senate steadily refused to accede 
to their proposition, alleging that as the constitution had 
restricted the right of membership to men of certain pro- 
perty it was clearly intended to place the power of legisla- 
tion in the hands of persons of independent position, and 

* Washington's letter ; Sparks, vol. 5, p. 399. 

t 25 shillings = $3.33^—40 shillings == f5.33^. Seven shillings 
and six pence, old Maryland currency were equal to one dollar. The 
State adhered to this manner of reckoning — by pounds, shillings and 
pence — until the close of the war of 1812; when the mode of computa- 
tion by dollars and cents was universally adopted. 

21 Hh 



24"2 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1778. 

that in the present burthened condition of the country, it 
was unjust to increase the expenditure of the government. 
At the same time, they offered to provide for the expenses 
of any indigent members of the lower house by special pay. 
The house replied with warmth and dignity : but the senate, 
waiving further discussion, the matter remained unadjusted. 
Thus recommenced the struggle between the popular ten- 
dencies of the constitution and the remnants of the old 
aristocratic ideas : a struggle which has worked out many 
important changes in that instrument, and enlarged the 
rights and liberties of the people. But while thus sharply 
contending together upon this minor point, both houses 
united harmoniously in all matters of public importance. 

Under the constitution, the number of judges court of Ap- 
of the court of appeals was left undetermined : p^^is formed, 
and as yet no such tribunal had been erected. As there 
was a pressing necessity for its establishment, the house 
proposed to the senate to fix the number of the court at 
five ; and on the 12th of December, 1778, recommended to 
the governor and council, Benjamin Eumsey, Benjamin 
Mackall the 4th, Thomas Jones, Solomon Wright, and 
James Murray, Esqs., to be appointed judges. Both reso- 
lutions were agreed to by the senate ; and carried into effect 
by the executive : and, by this act was completed the or- 
ganization of the government under the new constitution.* 
After providing for the support of the officers and soldiers, 
who should be maimed or wounded in the service, and 
securing a gratuity of one hundred and fifty pounds to the 
officers of the Maryland line and the artillery, to relieve 
them from the distresses incident upon the great deprecia- 
tion of the paper currency, in which they were paid, the 
legislature took up a question, which had heretofore occu- 
pied the attention of the convention.! 

Virginia still adhered to her claim to the west- Public lands. 
* Votes and Proceedings. t Ibid. 



1778.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 243 

ern lands, and had succeeded in securing, in the articles of 
confederation, a clause " that no State should be deprived 
of her territory, for the benefit of the United States;" and 
Maryland refused to give in. her adherence to those articles, 
while that clause existed. The preceding legislature had 
solemnly protested against this unjust appropriation of the 
public lands, won by. the blood and treasure of all, and 
directed their delegates in congress, to lay their protest 
before that body, and to offer an amendment authorizing 
congress to fix the western limits of those states claiming 
to the Mississippi or the South Sea. The amendment was 
rejected, and the protest remained unanswered. The State, 
however, did not submit. A declaration, was adopted by 
the General Assembly, setting forth their claims to a por- 
tion of the proceeds of these unsettled lands, and urging 
their sister states, to open their eyes to their true interests 
and put at rest at once this vexatious subject. Their 
delegates, were instructed to renew their proposition, to 
cause the declaration to be printed and forwarded to the 
different states, as well as laid before the members of 
congress, and to have it, together with their instructions 
entered at large upon the minutes of that body.* Whilst 
thus protesting against any usurpation of their rights, they 
pledged themselves to continue the struggle against the 
common enemy, and to do all in their power to bring it to 
a successful termination. In proof of their sincerity they 
at once took up the consideration of the treaties of alliance, 
amity and commerce, made between France and the United 
States, and unanimously approved of them, as equal, honor- 
able, and wise ; and pledged themselves and the State of 
Maryland to be bound by their provisions and faithfully to 
fulfil them as orood and true allies. 

The cam- ^^ ^^^ spring advanced, although preparing 

paignofi778. f-^j, ^ j-etreat, the British still continued to hold 

* Pitkin ; Votes and Proceedings. 



244 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1778. 

possession of Philadelphia, loath to retire from the capital 
of the States. The desire was entertained by many, that an 
effort should be made to drive them out of the city : but the 
weakness of the American army and the backward state of 
the preparations for the campaign, rendered the attempt 
impossible, or at least exceedingly hazardous. None of the 
states, except Maryland and New Jersey, had yet filled up 
their quotas of the new battalions, although constantly urged 
by the commander in chief, to comply with the requisitions 
of congress. At length, on the 18th of June, 1778, the 
British army evacuated Philadelphia, and crossed the Dela- 
ware. Washington, desirous of striking a blow upon their 
rear, called a council of war, which however, was opposed 
to his design. Being supported by Lafayette, he deter- 
mined to risk an action ; and, having taken up his line of 
march, in pursuit of the enemy, he detached four thousand 
men under Lafayette in advance, with orders to attack, if a 
favorable occasion presented itself. Major Gen. Lee, who 
had, in council, opposed a battle, being second in com- 
mand, now claimed the right of leading this strong body, 
and was accordingly detached with two divisions to take 
charge of the whole force. The enemy, had encamped at 
Monmouth Court House in a strong position. Washington, 
determined to attack them the moment they began to retire 
from their posts and directed Lee to carry this design into 
execution.* 

Sir Henry Clinton, annoyed by the light parties g^^^jg ^^ 
which hovered about his flanks under Maxwell, Monmouth. 
and suspecting a design upon his baggage, sent it forward 
on the morning of the 28th of June, towards Gen. Knyp- 
hausen ; whilst, with a strong body of his best troops, he 
descended into the plains to attack the advance of Lee's 
corps. The position of the American force, immediately 
in front of a morass, which was passable only at a few 
* Sparks and Marshall. 



1778.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 245 

points, was scarcely tenable : retreat in case of defeat 
would be almost impossible, while the march of reinforce- 
ments to their assistance would be extremely difficult. 
Lee, however, kept his ground, and the enemy opened a 
cannonade upon Lieut. Col. Samuel Smith's battalion of 
the Maryland line which formed a part of Gen. Scott's 
detachment. Mistaking the oblique movement of one of 
the American columns for a retreat, and fearful of being left 
unsupported in this dangerous position. Gen. Scott fell 
back, and began to pass the ravine in his rear. Lee, 
doubling the propriety of engaging on the ground he oc- 
cupied, did not correct his error, but ordered the remainder 
of the troops to retire and regain the heights behind Mon- 
mouth. Gen. Washington, at the first sound of the enemy's 
artillery, ordered his troops to cast aside their packs and to 
move on rapidly to the support of the advance. After a 
speedy march of five miles, he came upon the front of 
Lee's detachment in full retreat before the enemy, without 
having made an effort to maintain their position. Informed 
that they had fallen back by the orders of their leader, and 
indignant that he had not been notified of a measure taken 
in defiance of his orders, he rode to the rear and severely 
reprimanded Lee for his disobedience. The enemy were 
closely pressing upon the retreating troops, while the ad- 
vance of the detachment was in danger of throwing the 
main army in confusion. The crisis required promptness 
of action. Lieut. Col. Ramsay's Maryland* battalion and 
Col. Stewart's regiment were in the rear. Seeing Ramsay, 

* The regiments of the first brigade, which had been without a leader 
since the resignation of Deborre, seem to have been detailed in the 
several detachments on this day. The divisions engaged were so com- 
pletely confused and mingled together by the carelessness of the re- 
treat, that it is difficult to trace the several corps. The position given 
to the third and fourth Maryland regiments, (Lieutenant Colonel Ram- 
say's—and Lieut. Col. Samuel Smith's J, is ventured upon the testi- 
mony given in the proceedings of Lee's court martial. 
21* 



246 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1778. 

Washington called to him that he " was one of the officers 
he should rely upon to check the enemy that day ;" and, 
addressing Stewart in the same manner, he ordered Wayne 
fo form them, and directed Lee to reassemble his detach- 
ment and maintain that position against the enemy, until 
he should bring up the main body. 

Their artillery now opened upon Ramsay and Stewart, 
who were soon after sharply engaged with the infantry. 
The action was maintained gallantly, until overpowered by 
numbers, they were compelled to fall back : Ramsay himself 
being wounded and taken prisoner. But their obstinate 
defence had mven time to the commander in chief to draw 
up the left wing and second line in their rear — on the right 
of which was stationed Smallwood's second Maryland 
brio-ade. The riofht winor of the army under Greene, had, 
early in the day, been thrown forward by a road to the right 
of that pursued by the main army, and was already in ad- 
vance of the scene of conflict. As soon as he was informed 
of the retreat of Lee and the present disposition of the 
forces, Greene changed his route, and coming up, took an 
advantageous position on the right of the main body. 

Thus firmly resisted in front, the enemy endeavored to 
turn the left of the Americans; but they were met and 
repulsed by parties of its infantry detached to meet them. 
They then assailed the right, but without success : and Gen. 
W^ayne, with the regiments he had formed on the centre, 
was ordered to charge upon them in turn. He executed 
the command in gallant style, and after a sharp action the 
enemy were driven back. 

As soon as the scale of victory began to turn, Washington 
ordered up Paterson's division and Smallwood's brigade* 

* Captain Jacob of the 6th regiment, and therefore in the 2d brigade, 
under Smallwood, in his Life of Cresap, speaking of the actions of 
the Maryland line, says, " We had the pleasure of driving the enemy 
off the field at Monmouth." 



HTS.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 247 

to secure the day. The British were driven back to a 
strong position, on the ground where they had received 
their first check from Stewart and Ramsay. Determined 
to follow up his advantage, Washington ordered the artil- 
lery to be brought against them, and detached several bodies 
of troops to attack their flanks; but, before the arrange- 
ments could be completed, night came on. The troops 
slept upon their arms in order to renew the action in the 
morning; but Sir Henry Clinton, taking advantage of the 
darkness, drew off his army silently, and made good his 
retreat, with most of his wounded, to the heights of Mid- 
dletown. The loss of the British was upwards of three 
hundred men slain, besides many wounded and a few pri- 
soners; that of the Americans was only sixty-nine killed. 
Fifty-nine British,* and several American soldiers perished 
without a wound, from the extreme heat of the day. 

Sir Henry Clinton's loss on the field was increased in his 
march through New Jersey, by upwards of a hundred taken 
prisoners and more than six hundred deserters. After re- 
maining a few days on the heights of Middletown, he con- 
tinued his retreat towards New York, which he reached on 
the 5th of July. The American army now turned its Hne 
of march once more upon the Hudson, where it remained 
watching the movements of Sir Henry Clinton, until the 
close of the campaign. 

Maryland line I" ^^^ mean whilo, Baylor's and Pulaski's 
m N.Jersey. (>Qj.pg^ which worc partly raised in Maryland, 
were stationed in New Jersey to protect the country from 
the inroads of the enemy. Both, however, were surprised 
at different times by parties of the British, and slaughtered 
with circumstances of excessive cruelty. The remnants of 
Baylor's dragoons were afterwards incorporated in Lt. Col. 
William Washington's light horse, which did such good 
service in the southern campaign. It was now found ne- 
* Holmes' Annals, vol. 2, p. 284. 



248 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [177S-9. 

cessary to post a stronger force in New Jersey, for the pro- 
tection of that state during the winter, and, towards the 
close of November, the Maryland line, with several other 
divisions, was marched to Middlebrook, where Gen. Wash- 
ington himself established his head-quarters. The route 
from the Hudson was rendered difficult and painful, by a 
heavy fall of snow, and the bad roads it occasioned; and 
the troops suffered severely, whilst preparing the huts in 
which they were to pass the winter as they had done at 
Valley Forge. Yet the privations of the army, were not 
equal to those of the preceding season.* 

In February, 1779, the British landed a body of troops 
from Staten Island, with the design of taking Elizabeth- 
town : Smallwood, with the Maryland line, and St. Clair, 
with the Pennsylvania division, were immediately ordered 
to form a junction at Scotch Plains, and reinforce General 
Maxwell, who lay nearest the scene of action. The British, 
however, faltered in their attempt ; and having hurriedly 
retreated, the troops were recalled. The campaign of 1779, 
opened late, and was rather remarkable for a series of 
manoeuvres than for any brilliant actions, with the excep- 
tion of the storming of Stoney Point by Wayne — in which 
affair Maj. John Steward of the Maryland line was honorably 
distinguished :t and several surprises which the enemy suf- 
fered from the American partizan corps. The moral effect 
produced by the presence of a powerful French fleet, ready 
to aid the American army against any point on the sea- 
board, seemed to paralyse the energy of the British leader; 
and by placing him between two strong and threatening 

* Sparks. 

t At the head of one hundred volunteers he fought his way into the 
fort with the bayonet, in front of the left column. A gold medal was 
presented by congress to General Wayne, and silver medals to Major 
Steward and Col. Fleury. The thanks of the legislature were also 
voted to Major Steward. — Proc. of Con. and Md. Leg. 



1779.] 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



249 



opponents, compelled liim to remain inactive and on the 
defensive. The allies then determined to assume the offen- 
sive ; and, in July, the army w^as concentrated at West 
Point, the head-quarters of the commander in chief, for the 
purpose of co-operating with the French fleet in any design 
that might be attempted against the British in New York. 
The Maryland line formed its right wing. It v/as soon 
found impracticable, after examining the approaches to the 
city, to execute any combined movement against the city, 
and the idea was accordingly abandoned.^ 

* Sparks. 




CHAPTER XIII. 

INTERNAL AFFAIRS. 

1779 — 1781. 

J. HE withdrawal of the British troops from Philadelphia 
and the consequent removal of the scene of the campaign 
to a greater distance from their borders, gave the people of 
Maryland a breathing time to recover from the constant 
drain of men, provisions, and military supplies, which their 
vicinity had rendered necessary. During the campaign of 
'77, besides the frequent drafts of militia, for the protection 
of its own coast, when the Cheasapeake was filled by British 
cruisers, the State had furnished to the continental service 
two thousand and thirty regulars, and fifteen hundred and 
thirty-five militia. While the invasion continued most of 
the people upon the bay shore were under arms, and those 
of the interior, in readiness to march to any threatened 
point. In the ensuing campaign, when the British fleet 
had withdrawn from the Maryland waters, and their army 
was still lying at Philadelphia, anxious to place a sufficient 
force in the hands of Washington, to whom no State clung 
more faithfully in all his trials, and against all his oppo- 
nents, it furnished a body of three thousand three hundred 
and seven regulars; a quota one-third larger than that of 
any other State, except Delaware, according to the propor- 
tions fixed by congress. Its quota to the campaign of 
1779, was twenty-eight hundred and forty-nine continentals. 
But it was not only for men that the State was looked 
to; its wheat, ripening earliest of all the wheat growing 
states, was always required for the first supplies to the 
army, and was even imported by the permission of the leg- 
islature, by the north for their State and continentaJ use. 

250 



1779.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 251 

To protect this coasting commerce, which was extremely 
hazardous on account of the undisputed supremacy of the 
British fleet, and to guard the entrance of the bay from the 
smaller cruisers of the enemy, and the galleys of the lawless 
lories, the State was obliged to keep up a separate marine 
of some force. It consisted of the ship Defence and several 
galleys, the Chester, Baltimore, Independence, Conqueror, 
and a number of others, of different tonnage, besides a 
sloop of war and four barges. The prize money arising 
from the captures, made by these vessels, was placed at the 
disposal of the governor and council, for distribution among 
the victorious crews — an incentive to exertion, which per- 
ceptibly increased their usefulness. In July, 1779, Com- 
modore Grason, in the Chester, fell in with a hostile armed 
ship and schooner, which were endeavoring to make their 
way into the capes, and after a sharp conflict compelled 
them to stand out again to sea. 

Reduction of ^^^ arrival of the French fleet, however, in 
the Slate Ma- considerable strength, at a later period rendered 
it less important to maintain this force, and the 
immediately pressing condition of the finances of the State 
caused the legislature, in March, 1779, to suspend the fitting 
out of additional galleys: — the Annapolis, which was then 
getting ready was laid aside, the State's surplus of powder 
sold, the ship Defence and the several galleys and boats, 
with the exception of two of the best galleys and one boat, 
were disposed of and the money paid into the treasury. 
At the same time, the companies of Matrosses, heretofore 
stationed at Baltimore and Annapolis, were ordered to pro- 
ceed at once to the head-quarters of Gen. Washington, 
and report as portion of the State's quota for the campaign. 
The currency. .But whilst engaged in carrying out these mea- 
sures of economy, the house of delegates re-opened the 
controversy of the last session, by a resolution increasing 
the pay of the members. They were sustained by strong 



252 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1779. 

grounds in their position. The principal medium of cur- 
rency had, long since, become a depreciated paper, issued 
by the State and by congress. The exigencies of the mo- 
ment could not be met by the proceeds of taxation, and 
bills of credit were constantly issued, with the delusive hope 
that a favorable turn of affairs would bring about their speedy 
redemption. As these issues were enlarged, their value 
fell far below that which they bore upon their face, and, of 
course, continued to sink lov/er and lower at each new in- 
crease, which was rendered nominally larger by its depre- 
ciation in current value. Every effort was made to support 
their credit, but in vain. Many of the States made them, 
by law, a legal tender in payment of debts. The legisla- 
ture of Maryland, at the session of 1777, declared that the 
convention and State issues, as well as continental paper, 
should be received as legal tenders in payment of debts, at 
nominal value — a robbery of the creditor for the benefit of 
the debtor — but the courts decided that this only applied to 
the bills issued before the passage of the act. The continen- 
tal emissions had already increased to the enormous sum 
of two hundred millions of dollars, and had sunk so low in 
public confidence that they were rated at forty dollars in 
paper for one in silver. 

The nominal pay, therefore, of a delegate or senator, at 
twenty-five shillings a day, when reduced to specie value, 
was utterly insufficient to meet his expenses ; and the ac- 
tion of the house bore, on its very face, an argument which 
seemed irresistible. For a time, the senate continued its 
opposition, but at length yielded ; and the amount of the 
pay was increased to three pounds current money (eight 
dollars) per day, for the session, and a like sum per day for 
itinerant charges. Charles Carroll of Carrollton, was the 
only senator who persevered in his opposition to the mea- 
sure adopted by the house ; and the strong and pointed 
protest which he entered upon the journals of the senate, 



1779.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 253 

furnishes a complete and able vindication of his course. He 
considered the resolve a dangerous precedent, for future 
legislators, to vote the people's money into their pockets; 
for its existence would take away from men, in whom the 
desire of gain might overcome the dictates of duty and 
honesty, that dread of the people which alone could pre- 
vent them from enriching themselves with the spoils of their 
constituents. It was, besides, a measure calculated to 
exempt the lawgivers themselves, from those very incon- 
veniences, which the people at large were enduring; which 
were reducinor to destitution the f^allant soldiers who were 
shedding their blood in the field, and rendering penniless 
the brave officers who sustained the honor of the State and 
defended its liberties, spending in the meanwhile their own 
fortunes to make up the deficiency of their pay caused by 
the depreciation.* It was a continuance, too, of that *' pri- 
vate and selfish spirit which induced the passage of the law 
making bills of credit legal tender in payment of debts, un- 
necessary and impolitic at its comm.encement, injurious and 
oppressive in its continuance, and alike destructive of pub- 
lic and private faith." This spirited protest produced its 
effect upon the members of the senate; and when a few 
days after, a second tender law, to remedy the decisions of 
the courts by including in its provisions the issues made 
subsequent to the passage of the former law, was sent up 
from the lower house, it was rejected by a vote of five to 
three. 

The discussion of these questions led both houses to the 
consideration of a subject, which had already occupied the 
attention of congress and the nation — the proper recom- 
pense and just provision for the officers of the army, who, 

* Capt. Jacob, in Cresap's Life, p. 18, says he was despatched by a 
party of officers of the Maryland line to Baltimore, to purchase cloth 
for coats ; after great difficulty he bought fifteen yards, for fifteen hun- 
dred pounds, which were made into ten regimental coats ! ! ! 

22 



254 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1779. 

it was every where admitted, were bearing the heaviest bur- 
dens of the war, with a pay, which scarcely supplied them 
with the necessaries of life, and were, most of them, now 
so reduced in estate, as to be frequently dependent upon 
the gratuity of the States for the clothing they wore. Their 
condition at the close of the war, began already to be 
looked to. When that happy event should arrive, it would 
be to them the forerunner of utter destitution. The army 
would, of course be disbanded or much reduced, and these 
men, broken down by the hard service of the war, wasted 
in estate and no longer fitted for a business life, would be 
thrown on the world without support, unless provision were 
made for them by the country, in whose cause they had 
spent their best days. The matter was agitated in congress, 
and several of the States desired that a half pay for life 
should be granted to these gallant men : but at length the 
economists prevailed, and, after a sharp struggle, it was 
determined to bestow upon them at the close of the war a 
gratuity equal to seven years full pay. It was afterwards 
reduced to five years pay. With this they were compelled 
to be content, and it at least afforded to the younger and 
more vigorous, the means of starting out afresh in life, to 
toil for a sustenance among their countrymen, in peace, 
with the same fortitude that had marked their struggle for 
liberty against the common enemy, in war. But the legis- 
lature of Maryland was actuated by a nobler sentiment : 
and those, who had hitherto enjoyed the security won by 
the sufferings of the army, did not permit any feelings of 
parsimony to interfere with its appropriate reward. 

The legislature, therefore, upon the determination of the 
question in congress, immediately resolved, that the officers 
of the Maryland line, who should serve to the close of the 
war, should be entitled to half pay during life, to commence 
after the expiration of the seven years pay voted by con- 
gress. They further extended this provision to the widows 



9';«? 



1779.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. '-'OD 

of such officers as would have been entitled to half pay, 
durin(r their widowhood— a delicate restriction justly due 
to the sacred memory of the dead. 

To remedy, for the present, the wants of the officers and 
soldiers, the legislature ordered that each commissioned 
officer should be furnished annually, during the war, with a 
good uniform and four shirts, besides a daily allowance of 
a variety of necessaries enumerated in the act, and the 
privates, rations of rum and tobacco equivalent to twenty 
pounds per year. In the several reorganizations of the 
line, disputes had arisen as to precedence : the Assembly 
now referred the whole matter to Gen. Washington, re- 
questing him to settle the rank of all officers in the Mary- 
land line and separate corps, as he should deem most 
consistent with justice. He was also requested to incor- 
porate the Maryland portion of the German battalion and 
the rifle regiment, into one battalion, to appoint proper 
officers and enrol it in the line of the State. For the pur- 
pose of hastening the recruiting service, the commander in 
chief, was desired to detach suitable officers with active ser- 
geants to enlist men in the State to fill its quota ; and the 
sum of two thousand dollars was immediately appropriated 
to meet the necessary expense ; while to each recruit in 
addition to the bounty allowed by congress and the State, 
were presented a hat, shoes, stockings and overall — homely 
provisions which denote the pressure of the times. 

The divisions of party already began to make their ap- 
pearance in the two houses. The legislature, in imposing 
taxes, had directed a treble tax to be levied upon non-jurors, 
persons who had refused or neglected to take the oath of 
allegiance to the State. The ultra patriots, who were re- 
solved to spare no means to crush the tories and support 
the army, insisted upon this measure, whilst the more 
moderate desired to release the non-jurors from the heavy 
burdens thus imposed upon them in addition to that of dis- 



256 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1779. 

franchisement. Some of these non-jurors, were clergymen 
favorable to the royal cause, who, besides other disabilities, 
had been prohibited from teaching or preaching the Gos- 
pel ; — several acts had been introduced for their relief upon 
taking the oath,* but always rejected. A resolution for the 
general relief of non-jurors upon their taking the oaths, was 
now proposed. It awakened the most violent opposition, 
and Samuel Chase, a distinguished member of the house of 
delegates, openly charged that there were tories, or persons 
unfriendly to the cause, in the two houses. He was sum- 
moned before the senate to make good his assertion, as 
far as it related to the members of that body. He accord- 
ingly appeared, and having objected to their authority to 
require his presence, proceeded, at the request of the 
senate, to make specific charges against several members 
of that body, of disaffection and lukewarmness to the cause 
of liberty.! As two of the members implicated were absent, 
the affair was referred to the next session of the senate in 
July ; when, being thoroughly investigated, the allegations 
were unanimously declared unfounded. But the resolution 
in favor of non-jurors although it passed the house was 
rejected by the senate. Subsequently, however, a tempo- 
rary relief was granted to them. 

During the preceding campaign ; a large number of the 
German troops in the service of the British, had deserted, and 
some had found their way into Maryland ; many foreigners, 
attracted by a desire to serve under the American flag, or 
to partake of the new liberty which seemed to be already 
established, had arrived in the country, and more, it was be- 
lieved, were desirous of immigrating, if proper inducements 
were offered to them. The legislature, conscious that a 
great accession of strength would be made to the State 
by incorporating these persons with the inhabitants, and 

* Votes and Proceedings, Senate, July, 1779, p. 69. 
t Votes and Proceedings, March, 1779. 



1779.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 257 

inducing them to enter heartily into the common cause, by 
generously sharing with them their rights and privileges, 
passed a naturalization law, by which all foreigners, upon 
takincT the oath of alleo^iance to the State, were at once ad- 
mitted to the rights of natural born citizens, save and except 
the privilege of holding any civil office, until after a resi- 
dence of seven years. In order that these liberal induce- 
ments might be made known abroad, the governor of the 
State was directed to cause the act to be printed and circu- 
lated in Great Britain and Ireland, and to be translated into 
German and distributed throughout the cities and towns of 
Holland, Germany, and Switzerland. 
a . Thomas Johnson had now served three years 

Second go- 
vernor of the in the responsible and arduous office of governor, 

having been twice re-elected without opposition ; 
and the constitutional restriction rendered him no longer 
eligible. When the time arrived for a new election, two 
candidates were proposed. Col. Edward Lloyd, and Thomas 
Sim Lee, Esq. On the 8th of November, 1779, the elec- 
tion took place, and a majority of votes of both houses being 
cast in favor of the latter gentleman, he was duly proclaimed 
governor of the State. Desirous of testifying their high esti- 
mate of the public conduct and administration of the late 
governor, the two houses transmitted to him an address, 
which forms the best eulogy upon his character and services 
during the critical period, at which he presided over the 
destinies of the new State, and upon his " prudence, assi- 
duity, firmness and integrity," conspicuous even in the 
galaxy of distinguished men, who then adorned the annals 
of Maryland.* 

The effect of the depreciation of currency, in raising to 
an enormous height the prices of labor, produce, and all 
commodities, called for some measures of relief; and a joint ^^ 
committee of both houses was appointed to consider the 

* Votes and Proceedings. 
22* Kk 



258 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1779. 

matter. They proposed that a convention of commissioners, 
from the several States, should be assembled at Philadelphia, 
in January ensuing, to take measures for limiting prices to 
a certain standard throughout the country. They also ad- 
vised that the governor should be empowered to seize pro- 
visions, wherever a surplus should be found, and suggested 
sharp measures against forestallers and engrossers, who 
bought up grain and produce for the purpose of specu- 
lating upon the distresses of the army. Three commission- 
ers were, accordingly, appointed on the part of Maryland, 
with full powers, to agree upon any united action in refer- 
ence to this important subject, and to report the result of 
the conference to the next General Assembly, should they 
deem it proper. 

Another question of great importance grew out confiscation 

/• , 1 1 1 i"i" /* xi nni_ of the estates 

of the deranged condition or the currency. Ihe ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^_ 
weight of the taxes already imposed, and the over- fected. 
whelming debt which had been contracted, filled the minds 
of the most ardent patriots with apprehensions. Congress, 
at length awakened to the ruinous tendency of inordinate 
issues of paper without credit and having only a compulsory 
circulation, limited their amount to two hundred millions 
of dollars; and, determining to cancel as much as possible 
of this sum, called on the States for their respective shares 
of one hundred and thirty-five millions, to be paid in nine 
monthly instalments.* The quota of Maryland amounted 
to fourteen millions tvro hundred and twenty thousand dol- 
lars, making the monthly instalments, to be paid by the 
people, reach the sum of one million five hundred thousand 
dollars. The rate of taxation upon the assessment of pro- 
perty to raise this amount, exclusive of the tax of thirty 
shillings for the State, was twenty-seven pounds on every 
hundred pounds. But the frightful proportion diminishes, 
when it is remembered, that the valuation w^as made at the 

* Pitkin 



1779 J HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 259 

old specie or currency rate, and the taxes were paid in the 
depreciated paper, then nearly forty to one. 

The leaders in the house of delegates, in casting about 
for some means to meet this heavy draught, resolved in 
imitation of the example of other States, to confiscate the 
property of those who had adhered to the royal cause, and 
bring it to the hammer. Many men of large fortunes had 
thus deserted the cause of their country ; and it was deemed 
but justice to seize their estates, either as the property of 
open and notorious traitors, or of British subjects, found 
within the State and fair spoil of war. A bill for that pur- 
pose, was accordingly framed and passed by the house and 
sent to the senate. The November session was now draw- 
ing to a close; several of the members were absent, and the 
senate, considering the question one of too great importance 
to be hastily disposed of and doubting the justice and ex- 
pediency of the matter, returned the bill to the house de- 
siring it might lie over to March session of 1780, as they 
were not prepared to act finally upon it. But the house 
would admit of no delay, and despatched, by a delegation 
of sixteen members, a strong remonstrance to the senate. 
They contended that the people were unable to raise more 
than nine millions, by taxation, at the rate of one million 
per month ; and that some extraordinary measure must at 
once be resorted to. The property of the refugees would 
sell for at least the balance of five millions'; and this would 
give time for the taxes to be collected and paid in. Besides, 
delay was dangerous; unless congress received the expected 
aid, a further emission would be necessary, and the con- 
dition of things rendered still worse. A warm and ably 
conducted controversy ensued ; and the senate, forced to 
act, rejected the bill for the present, suggesting, as a more 
appropriate source of revenue, that congress should make 
foreign loans and pledge for their payment the western 
lands which were improperly claimed by certain States. 



260 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1780. 

Unable to agree, both houses adjourned over to the twenty- 
eighth of March, 1780. 

In the meanwhile, the people heartily took up the subject 
of the confiscation of British property, and, when the 
Assembly re-opened its sessions at the appointed time, 
numerous petitions were presented from all parts of the 
State, urging the adoption of the measure. The amount 
required to be paid, had now increased to twenty-three 
millions, seven hundred thousand dollars, rendering the 
difficulty of raising it, by taxation more evident. The States 
had failed to pay in their proportions, and congress, as the 
house had predicted, was compelled largely to exceed the 
limit of two hundred millions, which it had assigned for the 
issue of paper money. To meet their quota, the people of 
Maryland, would have been obliged to pay in a tax of one 
hundred pounds of paper for every hundred pounds worth 
of property. The house immediately passed another bill 
for the confiscation of British property, which the senate, 
after a renewed contest, again rejected. 

A scheme was then devised for callinor in the old issues 
of continental paper, by an issue of State paper, at the rate 
of one dollar of the new for thirty-three and a third of the 
old, and pledging the faith of the State for its redemption : 
this measure met with the same fate, and, after a long session 
spent in fruitless attempts to effect a compromise, both 
houses adjourned to the seventh of June, having ordered 
the disputed bills, and, the messages concerning them, to 
be printed and circulated throughout the State for the in- 
formation of the people. 

The bill for recallinof the continental issues ^, ,^ . 

^ The old 18- 

was at length agreed to, in March, and the old sues called 
were redeemed, at the rate of forty to one of the *"* 
new. Few, however, were brought in ; and the laws making 
them currency being repealed, they soon, altogether ceased 
to pass, and quietly died in the hands of their holders. In 



1780.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 261 

this State of affairs, it was impossible to place any value 
upon currency, and, in fixing the governor's salary, the 
legislature was compelled to assign it to him, in wheat, at 
the rate of forty-five hundred bushels per year.* 
Confiscation The March session passed without an effort to 

bill passed, j^j-j^jg ^p j]^g confiscation bill, and it laid dormant 
until October, when, after material modification, it was at 
length agreed to by both houses. That injustice might not 
be done, an opportunity was allowed, to the owners to 
come in and take the oath of allegiance to the State, prior 
to the first of March, 1782. This provision was extended, 
in an especial manner to ex-governor Sharpe, whose de- 
portment as Proprietary governor of Maryland, had won the 
respect of the people. By another act, the quit rents of 
the Proprietary were forever abolished.! 
The Confed- Early in the revolutionary struggle, Benjamin 

eration. Franklin introduced, into congress, a plan for the 
confederation of the colonies, which was occasionally 
discussed from time to time, until the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. Then a more enlarged scheme of union became 
necessary ; and a committee of one member from each 
State was appointed to draft articles of confederation. The 
dark and trying struggles which ensued, compelled the 
postponement of the subject, to April, 1777, w^hen congress 
resolved to devote two days, in each week, to its exami- 
nation, until a definite conclusion should be reached. 
On the loth of November, they were finally adopted, 
and printed copies were sent to the legislature of each 
State, for their consideration, accompanied by an address 
requesting them, to authorize their delegates, in congress, 
on or before the 10th of March, 1778, to subscribe the 
articles of confederation. In June, 1778, the delegates 
were called on for their instructions, upon this subject, 
from their States. New York, New Hampshire, Virginia 
* Votes and Proceedings. f Hanson's Laws. 



282 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1780. 

and North Carolina, unconditionally adopted the plan 
Amendments were proposed by the others, but all the 
States except Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey, had 
instructed their delegates to agree, even if they should fail 
to obtain the adoption of their propositions. 

Maryland was determined not to relinquish rj,j,g public 
its claim to a portion of the public lands, and Lands. 
its delegates, in pursuance of their instructions, proposed 
an amendment, authorizing congress to fix the boundaries 
of States claiming westward to the Mississippi or the South 
Sea. Upon this question the States were nearly equally 
divided ; Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania 
and Rhode Island were in its favor — Massachusetts, Con- 
necticut, Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia, against — 
and New York undecided. The amendment was therefore 
rejected. In July, the articles were formally signed by the 
delegates of all the States, except Maryland, Delaware and 
New Jersey, who were urged by congress to give their 
immediate attention to it, as a subject of vital importance. 
New Jersey, in November, directed her representatives to 
accede to the confederation ; and Delaware followed her 
example in February, 1779. Maryland alone held out ; and 
the legislature resolutely asserted their determination not 
to accede until their rights in the western lands should be 
secured. As these claims affected Virginia, and their in- 
structions to their delegates particularly pointed to that 
State, it called forth, a strong remonstrance on her part, and 
the legislature of that commonwealth instructed their dele- 
gates in congress, to ratify the union with such other States 
as would join with them, declaring that it should be bind- 
ing without the assent of Maryland, allowing the State how- 
ever a certain time to unite with the confederacy. Con- 
necticut adopted a similar course. But Maryland was no 
more moved by threats, than it had been by remonstrance. 
As many of the States felt a strong interest in the success 



178v).] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 263 

of its demands, they refused to accede to the proposition 
of Virginia ; and the confederacy remained unratified. At 
length, New York led the way to a settlement of the diffi- 
culty, and instructed its delegates in February, 1780, to limit 
the western boundary of the State, and cede to congress 
their claims to lands beyond it, " to enure for the use and 
benefit of such of the United States, as should become 
members of the Federal alliance of the said States and for 
no other use or purpose whatever."* This act, the instruc- 
tions of Maryland, and the remonstrance of Virginia, were 
referred to a committee of congress, who reported a resolu- 
tion, calling on the several States to follow the generous 
example of New York, and thus effectually remove every 
obstacle in the way of a perfect union, and requesting 
Maryland to accede to the confederacy. In order to give 
effect to its recommendation, congress, afterwards, pledged 
itself that the public lands should be held for the common 
benefit of the whole — and as they became populated, should 
be parcelled out into free and independent States. In 
compliance with this request Virginia, on the second of 
January, 1781, by a resolution of the legislature, determined 
to cede to the United States all her claims to lands north- 
west of the Ohio.f 

But, whilst Maryland had thus for two years persevered 
in holding aloof from the confederation, it had not for one 
moment relaxed its efforts in the common cause. At the 
very time when it was thus contesting with Virginia, its sons 
were fighting on the soil of that State for its defence, and 
traversing the whole south, shedding their blood, without 
stint upon every battle field — the Maryland line and the 
Virginia regiments, side by side, bearing the brunt of the 
hard fought southern campaigns. But now the State stood 
triumphant; every difficulty had sunk down before its firm- 

* Pitkin, vol. 2, p. 33. j Ibid. p. 35, and also Burke, Hist. Vir- 
ginia, vol. 4, p. 471. The final deed of cession was not made until 1784. 



264 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [HSl. 

uess and perseverance ; and on the second of February, 
1781,* the legislature authorized their delegates in congress 
to sign the articles in their behalf. It was solemnly done 
on the first day of March, and the union thereby com- 
pleted. " This important event was on the same day pub- 
licly announced, at Philadelphia, the seat of government, 
and immediately communicated to the executives of the 
several States, to the American ministers in Europe, to the 
minister plenipotentiary of France, and to the commander 
in chief to be announced to the army under his command. "i 

By the articles of confederation, each State preserved its 
separate and distinct sovereignty, while the United States 
only possessed such authority as was specifically delegated 
to them. No State was to have less than three or more 
than seven delegates in congress, who were to be chosen 
annually and were only eligible three years out of six. The 
votes in congress were to be taken by States ; and it re- 
quired a majority of States to carry a question, unless it 
related to peace or war, the army, navy or the coinage of 
money, when it could only be passed by a vote of nine 
States. The articles could not be changed, altered or 
amended, except by the consent of all. The States were 
prohibited from making peace or war, laying imposts, which 
should interfere with those of the United States, and main- 
taining an army or navy in peace, without the consent of 
congress. Congress was authorized to make peace or war, 
raise fleets and armies, coin money, contract loans, and 
issue bills of credit : and to appoint a committee of one 
from each State, called a committee of States, to sit as an 
executive committee during its own recess. The great 
error in the system, as was afterwards abundantly proved, 
was the want of a sufficient federal power in the union, a 
defect which was at length remedied by the adoption of 
the present constitution ten years later. 

* Votes and Proc. October session, 17S0, p. 49. f Pitkin, v. 2, p. 36. 



CHAPTER XIY. 

THE SOUTHERN CAMPAIGNS. 
1780-81. 

During the year 1779, the southern army had been par- 
ticularly unfortunate; Georgia and South Carolina were 
reconquered by the enemy ; and North Carolina invaded. 
In this critical state of affairs, it was resolved by congress 
that the Maryland and Delaware lines should be despatched 
to reinforce that department. In April, 1780, they were 
accordingly detached, under the command of Major Gen. 
De Kalb, and, after marching through New Jersey and 
Pennsylvania, embarked at the head of Elk river. The first 
brigade passed through the State on the 5th, the second on 
the 11th of May. They numbered, then, about two thou- 
sand strong : and most, of that gallant and veteran array, 
looked for the last time upon their native State. Yet 
proudly conscious of their noble bearing, and the honor 
they had won it, they cheerfully marched on to new fields 
of glory, without pausing to receive the gratulations of 
friends, or to revisit those homes, to which they might never 
more return. The south was calling for their aid; and 
these relics of many fights, some of them sharers with Gist 
of the bloody day upon Long Island, some, who fought 
at Harlaem Heights, White Plains, Fort Washington, and 
through five severe campaigns, were hastening thither to 
cross their bayonets with British steel again. The legisla- 
ture to expedite their march, directed a sum of three thou- 
sand dollars to be paid to each officer, and, to welcome their 
passage through the State — a gratuity of rum to be distri- 
buted amono- the non-commissioned officers and privates. 
23 ° LI 265 



266 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1730. 

To strengthen the southern force as much as possible, they 
further ordered that the three Maryland companies of artil- 
lery, in the continental service, should be formed into four 
with proper officers, and attached to Col. Harrison's Vir- 
ginia regiment. They, also, passed stringent measures to 
increase the number of the line, by the enlistment or draught 
of fourteen hundred men, to which a thousand more were 
added in June. However, the actual number of recruits 
did not reach the amount called for. An additional regi- 
ment was raised, and placed under the command of Colonel 
Alexander L. Smith, but after it had marched to the south, 
its officers were recalled and the men drafted into the old 
regiments. The legislature then published an able and 
stirring address, to the people of Maryland, calling on them 
to come forward, at this trying time, reminding them of 
the outrages, perpetrated by the British soldiery on their 
brethren in New Jersey, — recounting the reverses which 
had befallen the American arms, the reduced condition 
of their forces in the south, the fall of Charleston, and 
the conquest of South Carolina; and urging them, like the 
''Romans of old, to draw new resources and an increase 
of courage, even from defeats, and manifest to the world 
that they were then most to be dreaded when most de- 
pressed." 

The progress of the line was somewhat delayed by the 
difficulty of obtaining provisions ; but the news of their 
approach preceded them, and served at once to raise the 
spirits of the southern people. At Hillsborough, in North 
Carolina, they encamped, until further preparations were 
made to facilitate their march to the south, and to give time 
to the militia of Virginia and North Carolina, under Caswell 
and Stevens, to join them. On resuming their march, they 
were overtaken at Deep river by Gen. Gates, whom congress 
had desired to be appointed to the southern department. 
The conqueror of Saratoga was received with the greatest 



1780.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 267 

enthusiasm, by the army of the south ; and the eclat of his 
name, and the gallant force he accompanied, aided materi- 
ally in bringing out the militia of the invaded States. The 
broken remains of the cavalry, which had served through 
the preceding campaign, had withdrawn to North Carolina 
to recruit, and their officers requested Gates to use his in- 
fluence to fill their corps ; but he refused to do so, thinking 
Armand's horse, which he had with him, sufficient for his 
purpose. He learned to regret his neglect. De Kalb had 
already selected a route for the army, somewhat circuitous, 
but through a fertile country, where provisions and supplies 
could be readily obtained ; but Gates, eager to reach the 
scene of action, fixed upon a more direct course, through 
a barren and exhausted district. The consequences to the 
troops were serious in the extreme. The men were reduced 
to live upon green corn and unripe fruit — a diet which soon 
produced disease — and suffering and deaths diminished his 
effective force. The horses, destitute of forage, were unable 
to support the forced marches, and the whole army when 
it approached the enemy was broken down and scarcely fit 
for immediate service. 

As Gates advanced towards Camden, Sumpter, Marion, 
and Pickens, three distinguished southern partizan leaders, 
rallying their scattered troops, made their appearance in the 
field. Lord Rawdon, who commanded at Camden, desirous 
of striking a blow before the Americans should concentrate 
their forces, advanced to a strong post fifteen miles in front 
of that place, on Lynch's creek. But the American general, 
inclining to the right, and endangering his position, he fell 
back to Logtown, nearer Camden. Desirous of opening 
his communication with Sumpter, Gates at once advanced to 
Rugely's Mills, and, having learned from that leader, that a 
British convoy of stores and provisions, were on their way 
from Ninety-Six to Camden, immediately detached Lieut. 
Colonel Woolford, with four hundred men of the Maryland 



268 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1730. 

line, and two light pieces of artillery, to form a junction 
with Sumpter and attack the enemy's train.* 

Lord Cornwallis, informed of the movements of rp,^g Battieof 
the American general, immediately hastened to *-'a""^'^"- 
Camden, and determined to seek a battle, before his enemy 
could increase his strength. He, accordingly, marched 
from that place by night, intending to surprise the Ameri- 
cans. By a singular coincidence. Gates had set forward 
upon a similar design ; and the advance parties of the op- 
posing armies met at half past two o'clock in the morning, 
a few miles from Saunder's creek. Armand's cavalry, the 
van of the American force, was soon driven in by the Bri- 
tish guards, under Lieut. Col. Webster; and the flight of 
the fugitives threw the leading Maryland regiment into some 
disorder : but the heavy fire of Porterfield's and Armstrong's 
infantry upon the flanks gave it time to rally, and the guards 
were driven back. 

As if by common consent, both armies ceased their fire 
and, drawing back awaited the dawning of day. Immedi- 
ately, the two hostile leaders began to form their lines of 
battle ; and the nature of the orround and the arranorement 
of the troops materially effected the result. The British 
troops, numbering about two thousand men, were posted 
between two swamps, which protected their flanks and 
rendered the superior numbers of the Americans of little 
avail. The American left, resting on the morass, was com- 
posed entirely of Virginia militia under Stevens, whose 
flight would leave the centre and right wing unprotected, 
and expose them to be taken in flank and rear. The North 
Carolina militia, under Caswell, formed the centre, and 
three regiments of the first Maryland brigade, under Gen. 
Gist, with the Delaware regiment, formed the right, while 
the second Maryland brigade, under Smallwood, was sta- 
tioned as a reserve three hundred yards in the rear of the 

* Lee's Memoirs. 



1780.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 269 

• 

line. Baron De Kalb commanded on the right and along 
the line of battle, while Gates retained the* general superin- 
tendence of the whole to himself, and took post between 
the main body and the reserve. 

As the first streak of day broke in the east, the artillery 
opened on both sides, and the left under Stevens, was 
ordered to advance. To teach the Virginia militia to stand 
the fire of the enemy, Col. Otho H. Williams, of Maryland, 
with a party of volunteers, moved in their front against the 
British artillery to draw and sustain their fire ; and General 
Stevens, after exhorting his men to use the bayonet freely, 
led them into action. Cornwallis, immediately, threw for- 
ward his right under Webster with his veteran corps. The 
Virginia militia, scarcely waiting to deliver one fire, broke, 
and, throwing away their arms, fled in the utmost disorder. 
The North Carolina militia, followed their shameful exam- 
ple ; and Gates, Stevens and Caswell, in vain attempting 
to rally them, were borne from the field by the flying mass 
of frightened men. One regiment of North Carolinians, 
under Dixon, an old continental officer, cheered by the 
firm bearing of the Marylanders, on whom they flanked, 
alone maintained their ground. 

At the same moment that the left wing broke, Cornwallis, 
elated with success, ordered Rawdon to charge upon the 
right. But Gist's brigade stood immovable. For a while, 
the terrific struggle seemed of doubtful issue — "bold was 
the pressure of the foe," exclaims an eye-witness, " firm 
as a rock the resistance of Gist — Now the Marylanders 
were gaining .ground." The gallant Howard, at the head 
of Williams' regiment, impetuously broke upon the enemy 
and severing his front, drove the opposing corps before 
him ; and it seemed as if the lost battle was about to be re- 
trieved even whilst the commander in chief was flying far 
from the scene of action. But the eagle-eyed Webster, the 

best and bravest officer after Cornwallis in the British army, 
23* 



270 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1733. 

upon the flight of the centre and left brought his veteran 
guards upon their flank. In a moment they were met by 
the second Maryland brigade, which Smallwood rapidly 
brought up to replace the fugitives, and the battle was again 
renewed with undiminished spirit upon the left. 

Finding his flank once more protected and his Mary- 
landers bearing up with unflinching valor, the brave De 
Kalb — although out numbered two to one, resolved to make 
one great and final effort with the bayonet. Dreadful was 
the charo-e. For a time the two lines seemed mingled with 
each other, clinging together and slaying with that terrible 
w^eapon — the weaker going down before the stronger. 
But at length the veteran troops, of Cornwallis began to 
recede ; at one point they were broken, thrown into dis- 
order, and many prisoners were taken. A single corps of 
cavalry would have retrieved the day: but Gates' folly had 
rendered victory impossible. The forward movement had 
again uncovered the left of Smallwood's brigade, and Web- 
ster immediately turned the light infantry and the twenty- 
third regiment upon his open flank. Smallwood, however, 
sustained himself with undiminished vigor: but, borne down 
at last by superiority of force, began to recede. Soon, 
however, his brigade forced back its assailants and regained 
the line of battle ; again it gave ground and again it rallied. 
The right under Gist and De Kalb continued to maintain 
its superiority. 

Cornwallis, alarmed at the unexpected resistance of the 
Maryland line, and having before experienced its desperate 
valor with the bayonet, now concentrated his whole force, 
and brought it upon them. The inequality was too great 
to be resisted. The whole British army was poured upon 
these two devoted brigades, who still maintained their 
ground, although only numbering eight hundred men,"* 

* It had been reduced by detachments made before the battle. — 
Burke's His. of Va., 4th vol. p. 400. 



1780.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 271 

opposed to more than two thousand British regulars, and 
surrounded and unsupported, yet still fighting on with un- 
flinching hearts. The cavalry were suddenly thrown in 
upon them, in front and rear, while they were still entangled 
with the infantry. The moment was critical ; De Kalb, at 
the head of one regiment, attempted to restore the line — 
but overpowered, he fell covered with wounds, and was 
made prisoner : — his life being saved by the generous De 
Buysson, his heroic aide-de-camp, \vho threw himself upon 
his fallen leader, and received in his own body the bayonets 
aimed at his friend. Intermingled with the infantry, and 
trampled under foot and sabred by the dragoons, without 
space to rally — the brave troops were broken, and driven 
from the field by successive charges. " To the woods and 
swamps, after performing their duty valiantly, these gallant 
soldiers were compelled to fly. The pursuit was continued 
with keenness and none were saved, but those who pene- 
trated swamps which had been deemed impassable. The 
road was heaped with the dead and dying. Arms, artillery, 
horses and baggage, were strewed in every direction." 
Brigadier Gen. Gist moved off* with a body of one hundred 
men, still maintaining their ranks unbroken, through the 
swamp, where the cavalry could not pursue them, while 
Col. Howard effected his escape with a still smaller party.* 
The loss was severe. Four hundred North Carolina mi- 
litia were taken prisoners, and sixty killed and 'wounded — 
for a portion of them — the regiment under Dixon — had 
gallantly continued to maintain its ground, on the left of 
the Maryland line. The Virginia militia, to the regret of 
all, escaped with only the loss of three men, wounded in 
the flight, and a few taken prisoners. The loss of the 
Maryland line and Delaware regiment was exceedingly 
severe. — Three or four hundred killed and wounded, and 
one hundred and seventy prisoners, mostly of the wounded 
* Marshall ; Lee's Memoirs ; Tarleton's Campaigns, &c. 



272 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. ['730. 

The regiment of Delaware was reduced to less than two 
companies, and, having lost its field officers, Col. Vaughn 
and Major Patton, was afterwards formed into one company 
under Captain Kirkwood. 

The brave De Kalb, though treated with every attention, 
survived but a few days. He spent his last moments, in 
dictatincr a letter to Gen. Smallwood, who now succeeded 
him in the command of the Maryland line, "full of sincere 
and ardent affection, for the officers and soldiers of his 
division, expressing his admiration of their late noble but un- 
successful stand ; reciting the eulogies which their bravery 
had extorted from the enemy, together with the lively 
delight such testimony of their valor had excited in his own 
mind, then hovering on the shadowy confines of death. — In 
this endearing adieu, he comprehended Lieut. Colonel 
Vaughn and the Delaware regiment, and the artillery 
belonging to his division, both of which corps had shared 
in the glory of that disastrous day. Feeling the pressure 
of death, he stretched out his quivering hand to his friend 
De Buysson, proud of his generous wounds, and breathed 
his last in benedictions on his faithful, brave division."* 
His death was lamented in Maryland and his memory 
honored. The legislature, in testimony of their respect 
and gratitude, passed an act granting the rights of citizen- 
ship to his descendants, a copy of which they directed the 
governor to'transmit to the Baroness De Kalb, his wife :t 
and conofress ordered a monument to be erected at Anna- 
polls, with an inscription commemorative of his actions 
and glorious death. To the disgrace of the nation the 
resolution has not yet been carried into effect. 

Gates, in the midst of his defeat, was, for a moment, 
cheered by the intelligence, that Sumpter and Woolford 
had succeeded in capturing the convoy of the enemy ; but 
the gratifying news was speedily followed, by the an- 

* Lee's Memoirs, p. 96. f Votes and Proceedings Assembly. 



1790.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 273 

nouncement that Tarleton had, in turn, surprised and 
defeated them, killing or taking prisoners the larger por- 
tion of the infantry, and dispersing the cavalry. In these 
two actions, the Maryland line suflered greatly, in officers. 
Besides its distinguished leader, De Kalb — it had to regret 
the loss of Capt. Williams, 6th regiment, Capt. Duval, 2d 
regiment, Lieut, and Adjutant Coleman, artillery — killed. 
Capts. Sommerwell, 6th, and Gibson 5th, Lieuts. Duvall 
and Sears, 3d, and Ensign Fickle, 7lh — wounded ; Lieut. 
Col. Woolford, 5th regiment, Major Winder, 1st, Captains 
Brice, 3d, Hoops, Lynch and Hamilton, 5th, and Hardman, 
2d, (also wounded). Smith, 3d, (wounded), Dorset, artillery, 
wounded, Lieut. Waters, artillery, Lieuts. Shoemaker and 
Hanson, 4th, (also wounded), Norris, 6th, (wounded), 
Wallace and Mosely, artillery, Ensign Burgis, 4th, and 
volunteers, Lieuts. Nelson, 6th, (wounded), and Rutledge, 
4th, taken prisoners : and Capts. Morris, 7th, (wounded), 
and Gassay, 2d, Lieut. Gassaway, 2d, Capts. Meredith and 
Blair of the artillery, missing.* 

Throughout this hard fought but disastrous day. Gens. 
Smallwood and Gist conducted themselves with exemplary 
skill and bravery, and the thanks of congress were voted to 
them in a special manner.! Lieutenant Col. Williams, the 
adjutant general, was every where in the heat of action, 
volunteering to face every danger, although out of the line 
of his duty ; and Lieut. Col. Howard gave proofs of that, 
" solidity of character,"^ that cool and daring courage, 
which afterwards distinguished him as one of the first and 
bravest of Maryland's sons. Gates, in vain endeavored to 
rally the flying militia; could he have succeeded, and brought 
them back to the aid of the line, the victory would have been 

* Tarleton's Campaigns. 

t Gen. Gist was promoted on the 19th of January, 1779, to a briga- 
diership, and Smallwood, after the death of De Kalb, was made major 
general on the 15th September, 17S0. X Lee's M. 

Mm 



274 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [HSO. 

retrieved. He halted, for a time, at Charlotte, to gather a 
portion of the remnants of that gallant army, he had so 
lately led into the south ; and then removed to Hillsborough, 
one hundred and eighty miles from Camden. 

Smallvvood and Gist remained at Charlotte, with about 
one hundred and fifty officers and men, to rally their scat- 
tered soldiers. Col. Williams, with a brigade major, was 
detached towards the scene of the battle, to bring up all the 
stragglers he could find, and to obtain information of the 
enemy. Major Anderson, of the 3d Maryland regiment, had 
succeeded in rallying a portion of his corps, not far from 
the field, and now, learning the point of rendezvous, pro- 
ceeded to Salisbury by slow marches, to give time to the 
dispersed soldiers to join their colors. By these cool and 
skilful measures, Smallvvood succeeded, in ten days, in 
collecting upwards of seven hundred non-commissioned 
officers and privates, besides the larger portion of his com- 
missioned officers, which number was fortunately increased 
by the recapture of one hundred and fifty continental 
prisoners taken at Camden, made by the indefatigable 
Marion, on their way under escort to Charleston. 

Cornwallis, crippled by the desperate resistance of the 
Maryland line, the Delaware regiment, and Dixon's North 
Carolina militia, on the fatal 16th of August, was unable to 
follow up his advantages, without further reinforcements. 
His strength was subsequently weakened by the capture of 
Colonel Ferguson, at King's mountain, and an advantage, 
which Sumpter obtained over Tarleton. The army, there- 
fore, remained undisturbed at Hillsborough, and the com- 
mander employed the time in re-organizing the several corps. 

In compliance with General Washington's directions, the 
seven Maryland regiments of the old line, were reduced 
into one, to be called the first Maryland, and placed under 
Col. Otho H. Williams.* The supernumerary officers, under 

* Appendix D 



1780.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 215 

Gen. Gist, for whom there was now no longer any command 
m the broken condition of the army, were ordered back to 
Maryland to take charge of the recruiting stations, and to 
form two new regiments, as rapidly as possible.* The 
numbers of the new battalions were fixed by the commander 
in chief at five hundred and four men, and the legislature 
of the State at once set about raisinor recruits to fill them 
up.f The militia of the State were again divided into classes, 
and each class was compelled to furnish, within five days, 
a soldier, either free or a slave, t and it is said not a ^e\w 
negroes served throughout the war, not only in the Mary- 
land, but in the lines of other States, with faithfulness and 
courage. 

Gen. Small wood was retained in the army, as second in 
command : and was detached to the Yadkin, to take charge 
of the militia, gathering in that quarter. The Virginia levies 
soon after joined Gates, increasing his force to about four- 
teen hundred continentals ; which was further strengthened 
by a corps of volunteer cavalry and two divisions of North 
Carolina militia. He now moved to Charlotte ; and Small- 
wood was advanced from the Yadkin to the Catawba, while 
Morgan was thrown forward with a light corps. In the 
mean while, congress dissatisfied with the conduct of Gates, 
requested Gen. Washington to supercede him ; and Gen. 
Greene was at once despatched to the south, to take the 
command. The only reinforcement, which could be spared 
him from the northern army, was Lee's legion composed of 
three companies of infantry, and three of cavalry, and num- 
bering about three hundred and fifty men. On his way the 
new commander passed through Delaware and Maryland, 
which had been annexed, by congress, to the southern de- 
partment, to urge the forwarding of reinforcements. In 
Maryland he was informed, that Gen. Gist was indefatigably 
engaged in raising the new levies, a work which, in spite 
* Lee's Memoirs. f Sparks. % Hanson's Laws. 



276 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1780-1. 

of every effort on the part of the State, owing to the ex- 
hausted condition of the people, proceeded slowly. He 
held a long conference with the governor and council, and 
having made his final arrangements hastened to join his 
army, at Charlotte, in North Carolina, where he arrived on 
the 2d of December. He immediately commenced a series 
of active and energetic movements. Smalhvood's detach- 
ment was drawn into the main army, while a chosen body 
of troops was placed under the command of INIorgan to 
operate on the western quarter. It consisted of four hun- 
dred men, of the Maryland line, under Lieutenant Colonel 
Howard, two companies of Virginia militia, mostly dis- 
charged continentals, under Capts. Triplett and Taite, and 
Lieut. Col. Washington's dragoons, one hundred in num- 
her. When Morgan reached Broad river he was joined by 
several parties of militia. He took post near the confluence 
of Broad and Pacolet rivers. 

Cornwallis had ordered from the north a reinforcement 
of fifteen hundred men under Gen. Leslie, who was now 
approaching to unite with him. Learning the movements 
of the American forces, he suspected a design against 
Ninety-Six, and determined to strike a blow at Morgan, 
before he could be joined by the hardy mountaineers of the 
west. Accordingly he detached Lieut. Col. Tarleton, with 
his legion and other forces, amounting to about one thou- 
sand men, to pursue him ; whilst he, himself, put the main 
body in motion, to cut off his retreat, if he should escape 
that active officer. As Tarleton approached, Morgan re- 
treated : and so rapid was the pursuit, that the British 
columns passed through the ground of the American camp, 
only a few hours after it had been abandoned. Leaving 
his baggage behind him under a guard, Tarleton hurried 
forward through the whole night, and, on the morning of 
the 17th of January, 1781, came in sight of the Americans, 
encamped at the Cowpens. 



1781.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 277 

The battle of Morgan, accustomed to win battles, had re- 
ti.ecowpens. i^q^^^^ ^^ij^ reluctance, although a retrograde 
movement was rendered necessary by the advance of Corn- 
wallis, parallel to his route : now he had gained sufficient 
time to risk an action, and, having been joined on the 
evening of the 16th by Gen. Pickens with a body of five 
hundred militia, he determined to await the coming of the 
enemy. The ground was open, and favorable to Tarleton, 
whose cavalry outnumbered that of Morgan three to one ; 
and, fearful lest the American general would again retreat, 
that energetic officer immediately formed his wearied troops 
into line, and advanced to assail him. 

Morgan arranged his men with consummate skill. The 
Marylanders, with Triplett's and Taite's companies of Vir- 
ginia militia, all old soldiers, composed his main and second 
line under the command of Col. Howard, and were posted 
upon an eminence covered with open wood, with Wash- 
ington's cavalry in their rear, as a reserve. The first line 
consisted entirely of militia, under Gen. Pickens ; while, 
a short distance in their front, two parties of North Carolina 
and Georgia militia, were stationed as skirmishers. As the 
enemy began to advance, Morgan addressed his soldiers 
briefly, but energetically. He directed the militia to deliver 
but two or three volleys, and then to retire and form behind 
the main line. The Marylanders, he reminded of their past 
glory, " of the confidence he had always reposed in their 
skill and courage, and assured them that victory was certain 
if they acted well their part."* Then, taking his post, he 
awaited the advance of the enemy. 

Tarleton moved rapidly to the assault. The skirmishing 
parties of militia delivered their fire, and, falling back, 
formed on the flank of Pickens' men. The British pressed 
on with loud shouts, upon the first line, which however 
maintained an undismayed front, and poured in a close 

* Lee's Memoirs, p. 131. 
24 



278 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1781. 

and destructive fire ; but the enemy continued to advance 
with the bayonet, and the militia, being armed mostly with 
rifles, retired in haste. A portion, with Pickens, formed on 
the right of Howard, the rest fled to their horses in the rear 
of the line. Already beheving the victory in their grasp, 
the enemy pursuing the flying militia, charged upon the 
continentals. They were met with unshaken firmness. 
The conflict became desperate ; for a time, neither the as- 
sailants nor the assailed, seemed to give ground. But the 
unconquerable spirit of the iNIarylandors, at length, pre- 
vailed, and the enemy began to falter. Tarleton immediately 
ordered up his reserve, and his line, thus reanimated, again 
advanced, extendinor its front so as to endanger Howard's 
right. That officer, instantly ordered his flank company to 
change its front, but mistaking the command, it fell back ; 
upon which the line commenced to retire. Morgan at once 
directed it to retreat towards the cavalry, and assume a new 
position ; a mancEuvre which was executed, with coolness 
and precision, and which eflfectually relieved the menaced 
flank. 

The British, mistaking the movement for the precursor 
of a flight, rushed forward with great impetuosity and in 
disorder to complete their triumph. Perceiving their con- 
dition, Howard, not yet having reached the position marked 
out by Morgan, suddenly faced about, and poured in upon 
the astonished enemy a close and murderous fire. Their 
front ranks recoiled under the shock ; and, seizing the 
happy moment, Howard cheering on his men, broke in 
upon them with the bayonet. The charge was terrible and 
decisive : and the day was won. Dearly was the slaughter 
of Camden repaid : the whole British infantry was killed or 
taken — one hundred, including ten otlicers were killed upon 
the field, and twenty-three oflicers and five hundred pri- 
vates taken in the flight. Almost at the same instant, that 
Howard was winning this brilliant victory over largely supe- 



1731.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 279 

rior forces, Col. Washington was routing the cavalry of 
Tarleton. This sanguinary corps had pursued the retreat- 
ing militia to their horses and ruthlessly begun to sabre 
them, when Washington charged upon and drove them 
before him. With the remains of his cavalry, Tarleton fled 
from the field, closely pursued by Washington, who at one 
moment, in the eagerness of pursuit, advanced more than 
thirty yards beyond his regiment. Tarleton turned upon 
him, seconded by two of his officers. The officer on the 
right aimed a blow at Washington, which was intercepted 
by his Orderly Sergeant Everheart,* who disabled his sword 
arm. The officer on the left, at the same moment, aiming 
a blow at him, was wounded by a pistol bullet fired by a 
servant boy. The blow of the third — Tarleton himself — 
Washington parried with his sword, leaving his mark upon 
the British leader's hand for life. Reininor back his horse 
in rage, Tarleton discharged a pistol at him, wounding him 
in the knee, and continued his flight. His artillery, eight 
hundred muskets, two standards, thirty-five baggage wagons, 
and one hundred dragoon horses, fell into the hands of the 
conquerors, whose loss amounted to about seventy men, 
only twelve of whom were killed. 

Never was there a more complete, or more glorious, vic- 
tory. The force of Morgan did not much exceed eight 
hundred men, half of whom only were regulars — and only 
eighty cavalry — while that of Tarleton reached a thousand, 
comprising three hundred and fifty cavalry, and all chosen 

* Of Frederick County, Md., — he had served throughout the whole 
revolutionary war, and was well known in western Maryland long after 
its close. Subsequently visiting Frederick, Col. Washington sent for 
Everheart, then residing in Middletown in charge of a congregation, 
and the two old men met and embraced, with tears in their eyes, recur- 
ring to the eventful scenes they had passed through together. Everheart 
died in 1839, aged 74 years, and was buried with every testimony of 
respect and affection, and with the honors of war. — Sketch of the Life 
of Everheart, by L. P. W. B. ; South. Lit. M. 



2S0 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [HSl. 

men, the very sinews of Cornwallis' army. This splendid 
force was entirely annihilated. Although the militia did 
good service — "the weight of the battle," says one, who 
served in the same campaign with great distinction, "fell 
upon Howard ; who sustained himself admirably, in those 
trying circumstances, and seized, with decision, the criti- 
cal moment to complete with the bayonet the advantage 
gained by his fire." Yet he won the battle without orders; 
and after he had swept the field by his glorious charge, 
Morgan rode up to him and said severely, "You have done 
well — for you are successful — had you failed I would have 
shot you." At one moment Howard held in his hands the 
swords of seven British officers who had surrendered to 
him. Congress awarded Howard and Washington silver 
medals — Morgan a gold medal — Pickens and Triplett 
swords.* 

Cornwallis, having been joined by Gen. Leslie Greene's re- 
and finding himself still superior to Greene, who "'®^'' 
was unable to profit by Morgan's splendid victory, took the 
bold resolution of burning his baggage, converting his army 
into light troops, and pursuing the Americans into North 
Carolina. Morgan immediately hastened to rejoin the 
main army, and, by forced marches, crossed the Catawba 
before his pursuers could reach its banks. The British van 
appeared in sight, just as he had made good his passage ; 
and a heavy rain coming up, the waters suddenly raised, so 
as to become no longer fordable. The freshet continued 
for two days and gave the Americans time to dispose of 
their prisoners, call in their detachments, and make every 
preparation for retreat. On the third day, the British 
forced a passage with some loss and pursued the retreating 
army with great rapidity. As soon as Morgan had crossed 
the Yadkin, its waters also, as it were providentially, became 
swollen and impassable from the rains , and the British 
* Lee, p. 134 ; Marshall. 



1781.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 281 

were again delayed. Cornwallis, despairing of striking the 
light troops, before their junction with Greene, determined 
to cut him off from the fords on the Dan, and force him to 
an action. 

The British army numbered twenty-seven hundred men ; 
that of Greene twenty-three hundred, of which five hun- 
dred were militia, and two hundred and seventy cavalry in- 
cluding Lee's corps, then in fine condition and mounted on 
fresh Iiorses purchased in Maryland, and far superior in 
quality to those of the enemy. Unwilling to risk an action, 
juntil reinforced from Virginia, the American leader deter- 
mined to retreat towards Guilford Court House, and de- 
spatched Col. Carrington, aided by Capt. Smith of the 
Maryland line, to collect boats for the passage of the Dan, 
when the army should reach it. To harass the march of 
his enterprising enemy, he formed a light corps of his best 
infantry under Howard, Washington's cavalry, and Lee's 
legion, with a few militia riflemen, amounting in all to 
seven hundred men, the command of which he offered to 
Morgan. But that gallant oflicer then suffering severely 
from the rheumatism and about to leave the service, de- 
clined, and it was tendered to Col. Williams. " This 
accomplished gentleman and experienced soldier, accepted 
it with cheerfulness and yet becoming diffidence,"* and 
fulfilled the duties of his charge with honor and ability. 

On the tenth of February, Greene began his retreat from 

Guilford ; and Williams with his corps inclined towards the 

left, throwing himself in front of the advance of Cornwallis. 

And now began a series of masterly manoeuvres, of rapid 

marches, and severe duty. Cornwallis, finding a strong 

corps of horse and foot in his front, and uncertain of the 

object of his enemy, immediately checked the rapidity of 

his march. Williams, then, selected a route lying between 

that of Greene, which was on his right or to the east, and 

* Lee's Memoirs. 
24* N n 



282 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1731. 

Cornwallis, on his left or to the west, both armies moving 
north. The enemy, having condensed his force, renewed 
the rapidity of his march, and the rear-guard of the light 
corps under Lee, was constantly in sight of the van of the 
British under O'Hara. In the night, Williams increased 
his distance to prevent a surprise; and the duty, sufficient- 
ly severe during the day, then became painful and trying in 
the extreme. The necessity of maintaining extensive pic- 
kets, and numerous patrols, kept half the corps constantly 
in active service. Each officer and man was allowed but six 
hours sleep in forty-eight, and sufficient time was afforded 
them for only one hasty meal a day. At three o'clock 
in the morning they broke up their bivouac and marched 
forward rapidly, to secure time for their hurried repast; 
and sometimes they were even deprived of it, by the sudden 
appearance of the enemy. At night, when the halting 
ground was reached, worn down with fatigue, officers and 
soldiers not on duty, cast themselves upon the earth, for- 
getting hunger in the overpowering Aveariness, which op- 
pressed them, after forty-eight hours of ceaseless toil and 
watching. Yet every man performed his duty with alacrity 
and cheerfulness.* 

On the morninor of the thirteenth, Cornwallis chanfjed his 
route towards Dix's ford, and fell into the rear of Williams ; 
and the pursuit was continued with increased activity, as 
the two armies approached nearer the Dan. Greene was 
now in the vicinity of that river, and Williams suddenly 
changed his route to the road on his riorht, which had 
already been traversed by the main army, keeping his corps 
together ready for a prompt blow against the enemy, if any 
occasion presented itself. The distance between the van 
and the rear of the two armies began to diminish. More 
than once were the leorion of Lee and the advance of 
O'Hara, within musket shot of each other; and the militia 
* Lee's Memoirs. 



17S1.J HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 2S3 

riflemen were with difficulty restrained from picking off the 
pursuers. Both parties, however, maintained a pacific de- 
meanor, and seemed Hke portions of the same army vieing 
with each other in rapidity and skilfulness of mana3uvre. 
But that seeming holiday parading, was full of interest to 
the whole south : had Williams' corps been involved with 
the advance, the strength of the southern army might have 
been destroyed, and Greene, shattered and no longer 
covered by his light troops, would have fallen an easy victory 
to Cornwallis. The burden, therefore, of the retreat fell 
upon Williams, and gallantly did he bear it. Never, per- 
haps, was there made so ably conducted a retreat — over 
such an extensive country, filled with rivers and forests — 
with so little loss,— scarcely a single man killed or cap- 
tured, and in the face of an active, energetic and superior 
enemy, whose van for days was constantly in sight of the 
retirinor rear. 

But its termination was at length approaching. On the 
fourteenth, Williams was informed that Greene had safely 
crossed the Dan the day before, and, leaving Lee's legion 
on his former route to amuse the enemy, struck rapidly to- 
wards Boyd's Fen-y, his men having been cheered up and 
renovated, by the glad tidings of the safety of that army, for 
which they had endured such unequalled privations and 
fatigues. The enemy were still close upon his rear, but the 
light corps crossed without interuption, and were followed 
by the legion infantry. At nine o'clock, the cavalry reached 
the banks of the river, and were safely crossed in the boats, 
which were there gathered on the northern shore by the 
providence of Carrington and Smith. 

Thus closed this remarkable retreat, unparalleled through- 
out the war, for the consummate skill of the leaders and the 
patient endurance of the soldiers of both armies. From 
South Carolina to Virginia, through a country thickly settled 
with hostile torics, in want of provisions and clothing, with 



284 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [17S1. 

only a blanket to every four men, and without shoes, the 
gallant army, of Greene, maintained its order, in its rapid 
route, without loss and without confusion ; and reached its 
destination in safety, in spite of every exertion of a superior 
force under the ablest general, the British service could 
boast. From its formation, the light corps of Williams, 
never slept under a tent until it crossed the Dan. By the 
light of their watch-fires, which partially dried the damp 
sod, one-half of these brave fellows — wrapped in their 
blankets, cast themselves down to their brief repose upon 
the earth, while tl^e rest stood guard or were stationed as 
patrols. 

Cornwallis, baffled in his pursuit, rested his army on the 
banks of the Dan, and having selected Hillsborough as his 
head-quarters, returned thither by easy marches. In the 
meanwhile, Greene earnestly set about gathering reinforce- 
ments. He was soon joined by a brigade of Virginia 
militia ; the second Maryland regiment, just raised, was 
already on its way to his camp, and two new regiments of 
the Virginia line were preparing to march to his assistance. 
Fearful lest Cornwallis should be enabled to arm the tories 
of North Carolina, he determined to recross the Dan, harass 
the enemy, and give countenance to the patriots of that 
State. 

On the IStli of February, Lee's legion, reinforced by two 
veteran companies of the Maryland regiment, under Capt. 
Oldham, and Pickens' South Carolina militia, crossed the 
Dan, with orders to gain the front of Cornwallis and repress 
the loyalists. They fell upon Col. Pyle with four hundred 
tories, who were hastening to the British army, and who 
mistaking Lee for Tarleton, permitted him to draw up his 
men along their line. Discovering their mistake as he was 
in the act of passing on to surprise Tarleton, they opened 
their fire upon him. The legion and infantry immediately 
attacked them, killing about ninety, and wounding and dis- 



1781.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. "2^5 

persing the survivors. Greene, soon after, advanced into 
North Carolina, again detaching Williams with a light 
corps, to distract the attention of the enemy ; and by a 
series of brilliant manoeuvres, accompanied with several 
sharp skirmishes, completely repressed the rising of the 
royalists and prevented Cornwallis from filling up his ranks 
with the disaffected young men of the country. In a few 
days, he was joined by the new levies from Virginia under 
Col. Green, another brigade of militia from the same State 
under Lawson, and a body of North Carolina militia. The 
second Maryland regiment soon arrived in camp; and his 
whole force then amounted to forty-five hundred men, of 
whom about sixteen hundred were continentals. He now 
determined to risk a battle for the recovery of the south. 
Accordingly on the loth of March, 1781, he awaited the 
approach of his enemy at Guilford Court House. 
„ , ^„ ., The American army was drawn out in three 

Battle of Guil- •' 

ford Court Hncs, upon the face of a hill, at the foot of which 
ran a small rivulet. On the road, within close 
shot of this stream, Capt. Singleton was stationed, with two 
six pounders : on his left, across the road, the North Caro- 
lina militia under Butler and Eaton were arrayed. The 
second line, drawn up in a deep wood, a short distance in 
the rear, was composed of the Virginia militia, under Ste- 
vens and Lawson. The third line consisted of the four 
regiments of continentals, and was displayed on the right 
of the road. The Virginia regiments held its right, under 
General Huger ; the first Maryland under Col. Gunby, and 
the second under Lieut. Col. Ford, formed the left, under 
Col. Williams. Gunby's was the only veteran regiment; 
the remaining three were entirely new levies, scarcely bro- 
ken to camp duties — except a few old soldiers who were 
distributed through their ranks. The officers however were 
able and experienced. The right flank was covered by 
Washington's cavalry. Kirkwood's Delawares, and Lynch's 



286 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1781. 



Virginia militia ; the left by Lee's legion and Campbell's 
Virginia riflemen. 

As the enemy approached, Singleton's pieces opened 
upon them, his fire was returned by the royal artillery, and 
the cannonade continued while Cornwallis arrayed his 
army for battle. He formed in but one line — the seventy- 
first and the regiment of Bose on the right, under Leslie, 
the twenty-third and thirty-third regiments on the left, under 
Webster, and the light infantry and yagers in the centre. 
The first battalion of guards, under Lieut. Col. Norton, 
supported the right, and the second battalion and grenadiers 
under O'Hara, the left. The British crossed the rivulet 
and deployed into line, at a quick step ; and advanced 
upon Greene's first position. The Americans began to 
fire at a long shot; but Leslie pressed on firmly, and at 
the first discharore the North Carolina militia were seized 
with a panic and fled in the utmost disorder. Lee and 
Campbell still continued to maintain their position. The 
Virginia militia, under Stevens, stood their ground gallantly. 
That officer, stunsf with the recollection of the inglorious 
flight at Camden, had placed sentinels in their rear, with 
orders to shoot down every man that faltered or turned 
back. They sustained their position with courage and 
firmness, and it was not until the supporting columns of 
the enemy had been brought up, that they were driven off 
the ground at the point of the bayonet. 

Webster, now approached the third line. He was met 
by Gunby and Howard of the first regiment : with his usual 
impetuosity he hurried into close fire, but so firmly was he 
received by this body of veterans that he was compelled to 
retire, and wait for the rest of the line. The first battalion 
of guards now made its appearance in front of the second 
Maryland regiment, and Williams charmed with the gal- 
lantry of the first, hastened to cheer up the second by his 
presence ; but to his astonishment and dismay, the regiment 



nSl.J HISTORY OF MARYLA^'D. 287 

broke and fled in disorder. Gunby perceiving their dis- 
comfiture, immediately turned upon the guards as they 
were pursuing the fugitives, and an animated struggle en- 
sued between them. Webster was at this moment engaged 
with Hawes' Virginia regiment and Kirkwood's Delawares ; 
and Gunby, immediately charged up the hill with the bayo- 
net upon the guards under Stewart. His horse was shot 
under him ; and the command fell upon Col. Howard, who, 
with his characteristic impetuosity, led forward the regiment 
with such rapidity that Gunby could not again overtake it. 
Washington's cavalry, at this critical period, fell upon the 
guards and disordered their ranks, while Howard was rush- 
ing upon them with the bayonet. Like a torrent, the old 
Maryland regiment broke through their ranks, driving them 
headlong from the field with terrific slaughter, their leader 
falling under the sword of Capt. Smith: and the remains 
of that splendid corps were only saved from utter annihila- 
tion by a desperate expedient of Cornwallis. Determined 
to arrest the progress of Washington and Howard, he 
brought up his artillery and opened upon them, although 
every discharge swept through the flying guards, slaying 
alike pursuers and pursued. The remedy was effectual ; 
and Howard assumed the position formerly occupied by the 
second regiment under Ford' — but, seeing several columns 
of the enemy crossing to his rear whilst he was hotly en- 
gaged in front, and finding most of the troops withdrawn, 
he began to retire, carrying off* his prisoners with him. 
Lee's legion and the riflemen had continued to maintain 
their position with undaunted valor. 

Greene, finding the fortune of the day turned against 
him by the flight of the North Carolina militia and the 
second Maryland regiment, and Lee's corps severed from 
the army, conceived it prudent to provide for a retreat. 
The remaining troops were accordingly recalled. They 
retired in good order, covered by Green's Virginia conti- 



288 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1731. 

nentals who had not been engaged ; and so costly had 
Deen the barren victory of Cornwallis, that he found himself 
upon the field of battle, utterly unable to pursue his defeated 
antaofonist. The American loss in continentals was four- 
teen officers and three hundred and twelve privates, of 
whom five officers and fifty-two privates were killed, the 
remainder were wounded or missing : and in militia, seven- 
teen officers and seventy-seven privates killed and wounded. 
The Maryland brigade lost of this number, one major, one 
subaltern, two sergeants and eleven rank and file killed ; 
five captains, one sergeant, and thirty-six rank and file 
wounded ; and three sergeants, six drummers and fifers, and 
eighty-eight rank and file missing — a total of one hundred 
and fifty-four officers and men. Among the slain was Major 
Anderson, a valuable officer of the line. The British general 
lost nearly one-third of his army; ninety-three were killed, 
and four hundred and thirty-nine wounded. Such was his 
crippled condition, that after burying his dead, he left his 
wounded who were incapable of being moved, about seventy 
in number, to the humanity of Gen. Greene, and proceeded 
by easy marches back towards Cross creek. Greene im- 
mediately determined to force him to another battle, and 
detached Lee's corps to harass his retreat, while he himself, 
after obtaining a supply of ammunition, brought up the main 
army. But Cornwallis, conscious of his present weakness, 
was now anxious to avoid an action, and made his escape to 
Cross river, and thence to Wilmington which was strongly 
secured. Greene finding himself too weak to attack that 
place, abandoned the pursuit and dismissing his militia, 
permitted his army to repose at Ramsey's mill. 

At length, the American general determined to pass by 
his antagonist and penetrate to South Carolina, where Lord 
Rawdon was now in command, with the expectation of 
rallying together the scattered partizan leaders, and re- 
deeming that State from British thraldom. Accordingly on 



1781.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



289 



the 6th of April, 1781, Lee's legion with Oldham's detach- 
ment of veteran Marylanders, was ordered in advance to 
form a junction with Marion, while Sumpter and Pickens 
were notified by couriers to collect their militia, and to join 
the main body at Camden. On the 7th, the army began its 
march for that post. Cornwallis, thrown into great per- 
plexity by this movement, was undecided whether to follow 
his antagonist south, or, by striking into Virginia, to com- 
pel him to retrace his steps for the protection of that State. 
At length, he resolved upon the latter. 

Greene's army, by the detachment of Lee's legion, had 
been reduced from eighteen hundred continentals to fifteen 
hundred ; but, confidently expecting to find Sumpter in 
force to join him, he hastened his march towards Camden, 
fearful lest Cornwallis might retrace his steps to the south 
and form a junction with Rawdon. To his surprise, on 
approaching Camden, he learned that Sumpter had ne- 
glected to come in with his men ; and, disappointed in this 
expected reinforcement, he was unable to invest that post, 
althouofh its garrison had been diminished by a detachment 
of five hundred men, under Col. Watson, thrown out to 
attack Marion, and now closely watched by that active 
officer with his partizans and Lee's corps. Greene, there- 
fore, contented himself with sitting down on the north of 
Camden at Hobkirk's Hill, to await his reinforcements. 
Lord Rawdon, informed of the condition of his army, and 
aware that every delay would increase its strength and 
diminish his own, resolved at once to risk a battle. On the 
morning of the 25th of April, he marched out from Cam- 
den, at the head of nine hundred men to seek his enemy. 
The army of Greene was encamped upon a 

The Battle •' . ^ . . . - 

of Hobkirk's ridge, covered with wood, aflTording facilities for a 
^"^* surprise to an active officer like Rawdon. When 

the British ¥<^ fell upon the American pickets — the first 
notice of its approach — the troops were engaged in cook- 
25 Oo 



290 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1781. 

mg their rations and washing their clothes, along the rivu- 
lets which traversed the hill side. Captains Benson of 
Maryland, and Morgan of Virginia, who commanded the 
out posts, offered a gallant resistance, and, being sup- 
ported by Kirkwood's Delawares, made good their position 
until the army was drawn up. The Virginia brigade, under 
Gen. Huger, was stationed on the right, the Maryland 
brigade under Col. Williams, aided by Gunby, Ford and 
Howard, held the left. The artillery was placed in the 
centre, and Washington's corps of cavalry and two hundred 
and fifty North Carolina militia were held in reserve. 

As the British appeared in presence of his line, Greene 
perceived their narrowness of front, and ordered his centre 
regiments to advance with fixed bayonets, while Washing- 
ton's cavalry fell upon their rear. The fire on both sides 
was hotly kept up, but Rawdon, extending his front, pro- 
tected his flank, although Washington was furiously as- 
sailing his rear. Hawes' Virginia regiment, and Gunby's 
Maryland, still so-mewhat in disorder from its rapid for- 
mation, were now descending the hill to charge with the 
bayonet, when the flank company of Gunby's regiment, 
joined in the fire contrary to orders. It spread along the 
regiment — a part of which became confused. Unfortu- 
nately, Gunby ordered its right to fall back and form, at the 
very moment when Capt. Armstrong with two sections was 
charging upon the enemy. The movement was fatal. As 
the flank company retired, its leader, Captain Beatty, was 
killed, and his men became unable to form : the confusion 
spread, and the whole regiment began to fall back. Seiz- 
ing this favorable moment, the British line pressed forward 
with loud cheers, and the veterans of the first regiment, 
seized with panic, broke and fled. In vain Williams and 
Gunby attempted to rally them. In vain Howard, " who 
had so often and so gloriously, with this very regiment, 
borne down all opposition, appealed to their patriotism, 



17S1.J HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 291 

the recollection of their past glory, the shame of present 
disgrace."* Worn down by previous sufferings, emaciated 
from the scantiness of their food, and brought suddenly 
to a charore, when only half formed, these brave men seemed 
to forget the laurels which they had already won. They 
rallied, at length, but too late to retrieve the day. 

The second Maryland regiment had resolutely maintained 
its ground from the commencement of the action, but 
being left uncovered by the retreat of the first, became 
somewhat deranofed. Lieut. Col. Ford received a mortal 
wound whilst gallantly endeavoring to re-form them, and 
they too began to retire. The first Virginia had already 
fallen back ; and Greene, ever cautious to preserve his 
army, ordered the troops to retreat, covered by the un- 
broken reo^iment of Hawes. The loss of both armies, was 
about equal ; that of the Americans was two hundred and 
sixty-six killed, wounded and missing, that of the enemy, 
two hundred and fifty^ight. Capt. Beatty of the Maryland 
line, than whom there was no more promising officer in the 
army, was among the slain, and Lieut. Col. Ford, died 
shortly after the battle from the effects of his wounds. 

Greene, mortified at a defeat caused by the defection of 
a favored and trusted regiment, crossed the waters above 
Camden, and assumed a strong position, so as to cut off 
Rawdon from his supplies. But the British general having 
received a reinforcement, again advanced to attack the 
Americans. Greene, however, had assumed another posi- 
tion which was too strong to be assailed. Fearing lest his 
communications with Charleston should be cut off, the 
English nobleman prepared to abandon the upper country, 
and sent orders to Cruger to retire from Ninety-Six to 
Augusta, and Maxwell to fall back upon Orangeburgh. 

The American army were now busily occupied in besieg- 
ing the different strongholds he had left behind him : one 

• Lee 



292 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1781. 

Dy one, they fell into their hands, until, in the space of a 
month after Greene's entry into South Carolina, the British 
general, i-n spite of his victory, held possession only oF 
Charleston and Ninety-Six. This latter post Greene now 
hastened to invest. It was defended by Lieut. Col. Cruger 
with fire hundred men, and strongly fortified. After some 
time spent in making the approaches the garrison was 
summoned but refused to surrender. 

At the same time, Lee and Pickens invested Col. Brown 
at fort Cornwallis near Augusta. On the night of the 28th, 
the enemy made a sally to destroy the American works, and 
drove the guard before them : but Capt. Oldham of the 
Maryland line, coming up with his support, after an obsti- 
nate conflict regained the trenches, and forced the enemy 
back to his works. Frequent sorties were made ; and at 
length the Americans began to erect a tower of wood, 
which would enable their riflemen to overlook and com- 
mand the British works. Oldham's infantry were posted 
to protect the tower from the attempts of the enemy. Li 
the night, Col. Brown made a fierce sortie to destroy it, 
and fell upon the rear of Picken's militia. Oldham leaving 
one company to guard the tower, hastened to relieve the 
militia, whom Brown was forcing from the trenches. A 
severe and bloody conflict ensued, but at length the Mary- 
landers carried the victory at the point of the bayonet. 
Being now completely cut off", and his defences commanded 
by the riflemen, Brown surrendered ; and Lee hastened to 
join the besieging army before Ninety-Six. 

Learning that Lord Rawdon was rapidly ap- Assault on 
proaching, at the head of two thousand men, to ^inety-six. 
relieve Ninety-Six, Greene determined to attempt it by 
assault. Lieut. Col. Campbell, of the Virginia brigade, 
with the first Maryland, under Capt. Benson,* and first 
Virginia regiments, was entrusted with the attack upon the 
* Greene's Memoirs, p. 440. 



17S1.J HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 293 

ieft; Lee's legion, and Kirkwood's Delawares, upon the 
right. Lieuts. Duval of Maryland, and Seldon of Virginia, 
commanded the forlorn hope of the left ; Rudolph, of the 
legion, on. the rio-ht. The height of the walls had been 
increased by bags of sand, and parties were armed with 
hooks to pull them down, while others carried fascines to 
fill up the ditches. At the signal both divisions rushed to 
the assault. The storming parties sprang fearlessly into the 
ditch, and assailed the walls which were defended with 
bayonets and long pikes, while the riflemen kept up a 
deadly and continuous fire from behind the sand bags. 
For three-quarters of an hour, in the face of this terrible 
discharge, the assailants struggled in vain to drag down 
the sand bags, and mount the defences. A heavy cannon- 
ade was then opened on their flank, and a sally of the 
enemy, made into the ditch with the bayonet, dispersed the 
bookmen. Duval and Seldon, after an obstinate resistance, 
having had nearly all their men killed or w^ounded, were 
driven back, and Greene recalled his troops from the 
assault. On the other side, Rudolph forced his way into 
the fort, and Lee was about to follow when he was with- 
drawn by his commander. The loss of the American 
forces, during the siege, amounted to one hundred and 
eighty-five killed and wounded, among whom were Capt. 
Armstrong of the first Maryland regiment killed, and Capt. 
Benson wounded; that of the enemy was eighty-five. 

Greene, anxious to avoid the stronger force of Rawdon, 
abandoned the siege and retreated towards Charlotte, in 
North Carolina. Rawdon after relieving Ninety-Six, set 
out in pursuit of the Americans, but finding his efforts to 
overtake them useless, returned to that post which he de- 
termined to abandon. Greene immediately retraced his 
steps, waiting for a favorable opportunity to strike a blow 
against his active enemy. Finding the lower country des- 
titute of provisions, his troops being compelled to live upon 
25* 



294 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1781. 

ricGj which was suited to neither the Virginians nor Mary- 
landers, who were often times driven by hunger to resort to 
the flesh of froofs and even alH^ators * he retired aofain to 
the heahhier regions in the northern part of the State to 
pass the hot summer months. 

On the 21st of August, he broke up his encamp- Eutaw. 
ment, and hastened to the south to seek the enemy, now 
under the command of Lieut. Col. Stewart, Lord Rawdon 
having returned to England. He overtook them at the 
Eutaw Springs. The American army had been increased, 
by reinforcements, to twenty-three hundred men, of whom 
nearly sixteen hundred were continentals. Stewart's force 
was about equal to that of Greene. On the morning of the 
Sth of September, (1781,) at four o'clock, the American 
army was put in motion : its advance soon fell in with a 
party of foragers, who were entirely cut off. A second 
detachment met with the same fate, and Stewart was, for 
the first time, informed by the flying fugitives of the ap- 
proach of his antagonist. He immediately drew out his 
army to receive him. Greene advanced in two lines — the 
militia in front, the continentals in the rear. The North 
Carolina brigade of continentals, was stationed upon the 
rifrht under General Sumner, the Virmnia brigade, under 
Lieut. Col. Campbell, in the centre, and the Maryland bri- 
gade, under Col. Williams, seconded by Lieut. Col. How- 
ard, on the left. 

The militia advanced with spirit and opened a heavy fire 
upon the enemy, which was soon briskly returned ; but they 
continued to maintain their ground, until the British troops 
pressed close upon them. Sumner's North Carolina bri- 
gade was, immediately ordered up to cover their retreat 
and check the advance of the enemy. This corps, consist- 
ing of newly raised regiments never before in action, 
pushed forward in good style and the conflict became 
* Greene's Memoirs. 



1781.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



295 



warmer. Greene now brought up the Maryland and Vir- 
ginia lines, which advanced with a shout, and poured in a 
destructive fire upon the enemy. Stewart finding the dense 
line of his antagonist, pressing hard upon him called up his 
reserve. Sumner's North Carolinians, unable to maintain 
their position, began to fall back, when Greene ordered the 
Marylanders and Virginians to hold up their fire and charge 
with the bayonet. At trailed arms, cheering vehemently, 
these two gallant brigades, led on by Williams, Howard, 
and Campbell, rushed upon the enemy, heedless of the 
close and deadly fire, which was repeatedly poured in upon 
them as they advanced at a rapid pace. The shock was 
terrible. Howard's regiment was received by the Buffs, an 
Irish corps which had just joined the army ; and here the 
fiercest struggle ensued. Neither would yield : but crossing 
bayonets, their ranks mingled together, and opposing files 
sank down, each pierced with the bayonet of his antagonist. 
Thus they were found, grappled in death and transfixed 
together upon the field of slain, marking the spot, where 
the Marylanders and Buflfs had met in deadly conflict. The 
officers fought hand to hand. So bloody a strife could not 
continue long : the rest of the British line had given way, 
scarcely waiting for the approach of the Americans, and the 
gallant Buffs unable to maintain the conflict with the vete- 
ran Marylanders, broke and fled. Delighted with the con- 
duct of this regiment, Greene rode up and complimented it 
and its commander in the midst of the action. 

The victors followed up their advantage, and pressed the 
fugitives rapidly before them through their camp, which fell 
into their hands. A party of the enemy under Major Sher- 
idan threw themselves into a large brick house near the 
scene of action, and maintained a destructive fire upon the 
pursuers; while Majoribanks seized a strong position, on 
the right, sustained by Coffin. This gave time to Stew- 
art to re-form his line. In the mean time, Howard at the 



296 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1731. 

head of Oldham's company continued the pursuit between 
the house and the head of a ravine, where a portion of the 
enemy had posted themselves, and recommenced the ac- 
tion ; but receiving a severe wound, he was compelled to 
withdraw from the field. The position, which the British 
now held, was almost unassailable ; and after a vain effort 
to batter down the house, and to force their lines, Greene 
determined to recall his men from the action, satisfied that 
he had won all the honors as well as the benefits of victory. 

In the pursuit, three hundred British prisoners were taken, 
with two pieces of cannon, one of which was captured by 
Lieutenant Duval, of the Maryland line, a young officer of 
the highest promise, who was afterwards killed during the 
action. The battle lasted three hours, and was hotly con- 
tested : more than one-fifth of the British and one-fourth of 
the American army were killed or wounded. Greene's loss 
was stated at one hundred and thirty-seven killed, and four 
hundred and eighteen wounded, of whom sixty fell into the 
hands of the enemy. Nearly sixty commissioned officers 
were killed or wounded — seventeen being killed upon the 
spot and four others dying of their wounds. Of the officers 
of the Maryland line. Captains Dobson and Edgerly, and 
Lieuts. Duvall and Gould, were killed : and Colonel John 
Eager Howard, Capt. J. Gibson, Lieuts. Hugon, Woolford, 
Ewing, Lynn, and Ensign Moor, were wounded. The 
British lost about five hundred killed and wounded : and as 
many taken prisoners — making a total of one thousand men. 

Greene attributed his Morions success to the free use of 
the bayonet made by the Maryland and Virginia troops,'in 
their rapid charge, in the face of a murderous fire of artillery 
and musketry.* The thanks of congress were voted to 
each of the corps engaged, and to General Greene, a gold 
medal, emblematic of the victory achieved. The results of 
the battle were immediately perceived. 

* Greene's letter, in Memoirs ; Lee's Memoirs : Marshall, &c. 



1781.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 297 

Destroying his stores and more than a thousand stand of 
arms, and leaving his wounded behind him, Col. Stewart 
hastily retreated on the evening of the ninth ; and having 
formed a junction with a corps, advancing to reinforce him, 
took post at Monk's Corner, one day's march from Charles- 
ton. Greene endeavored to overtake him before he reached 
that place, but failing to do so, returned to his camp at the 
Eutaw Springs. 

The great number of his wounded, as also the increased 
sickness, which the hard service of the last few days had 
produced, determined the American leader to retire to his 
favorite camp, on the high hills of the Santee, to recruit his 
wearied troops. After the fall of Cornwallis, he again 
descended to the lower country, forced Gen. Leslie, who 
had succeeded to the command of the southern army, to 
withdraw into Charleston ; and blockaded him there, 
having redeemed North Carolina, and nearly the whole 
of South Carolina, from the British sway. The spirit of 
the hostile army was broken, and although many skilful 
manoeuvres and several partizan strokes ensued, with the 
battle of Eutaw, the royal supremacy in the south may be 
said to have terminated, overturned in great part by the 
bayonets of Maryland. Gov. Rutledge of South Carolina, 
thinking the time had come for the re-establishment of 
the state government, convened the Assembly at Jackson- 
borough. Further reinforcements, composed of the Mary- 
land, Pennsylvania and Virginia troops who had been 
engaged at the siege of Yorktown, were now received from 
the northern army, under Gen. St. Clair ; and Gen. Wayne, 
who accompanied them, was despatched into Georgia, 
which he soon freed from the presence of the enemy. 
General Gist, who had returned to the south, was placed 
at the head of the light corps, and Greene continued to 
hem Leslie in Charleston, until that general announced 
his determination to evacuate it, which he did peacefully, 

Pp 



'298 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1781. 

with the consent of his antagonist, on the fourteenth of 
December, 1781.* 

Whilst the Maryland line was thus gloriously ^^^^ campaign 
occupied in the south, its native State seemed, ^" Virginia, 
for a time, threatened with invasion. Arnold, the Traitor, 
had been detached to Virginia, at the head of an active body 
of British troops, and had committed great ravages in spite 
of the militia, who assembled to oppose him. Cornwallis, 
when Greene after the battle of Guilford passed into South 
Carolina, hastened into Virginia, and, forming a junc- 
tion with the forces there, took the command of the whole 
upon himself. The Marquis De La Fayette, was at once 
dispatched, by the commander in chief, to Virginia, with a 
small force to make head against the enemy. 

He passed through Maryland on his way, and was hos- 
pitably received by the merchants of Baltimore. Being 
invited to a ball, he was there remarked to be grave and 
sad. On being questioned by the ladies, as to the cause 
of his gloom, he replied, that he could not enjoy the gaiety 
of the scene, whilst his poor soldiers, were without shirts and 
destitute of the necessaries of a campaign. "We will sup- 
ply them !" exclaimed these patriotic women. The plea- 
sures of the ball room were exchanged for the needle, and, 
on the next day, they assembled in great numbers to make 
up clothing for the soldiers, out of materials advanced by 
their fathers and husbands. The distresses of his corps 
were relieved, and blessing the kind hearts and fair hands 
of the ladies of Baltimore, it hastened to take its share in 
the severe campaign in Virginia. 

The legislature, fearful lest the invasion, open as the bay 
was, might be extended to the State, caused a select body 
of twelve thousand militia, to be organized, and held out 
inducements for the formation of a corps of volunteer cavalry 
in each county. The glory of the southern battles, won by 
* Marshall ; Lee's Memoirs of the South. Campaigns ; Tarleton's Cam. 



1781.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 299 

their brethren, had re-awakened the spirit of the people 
of Maryland, and these measures were effectually and 
promptly carried out. The third regiment of continentals 
was speedily completed and despatched to the south, while 
the formation of the fourth was hurried on. Provision was 
made for the defence of the bay, and several severe actions 
took place with the straggling cruizers of the enemy. The 
fourth regiment under Major Alexander Roxburgh, when 
raised to its complement of six hundred rank and file, 
on the 7th of September, was ordered to join La Fayette 
in Virginia. 

Washington, having formed the design of destroying 
Cornwallis, was now anxious to concentrate as strong a 
force as possible, in that quarter; while the French fleet 
seized the mouth of the bay, to cut off the retreat of the 
enemy. On the eighth, Washington and his suite passed 
through Baltimore, where he was received with demonstra- 
tions of the greatest respect. An address was presented to 
him on behalf of the people, and the city was illuminated. 
In a few days, the commander in chief was followed by 
strong bodies of the northern army ; and then commenced 
those masterly movements, which resulted in the surrender 
of Cornwallis, with his whole force of seven thousand men, 
prisoners of war, at Yorktown, on the 19th of October, 
1781 — the closing struggle of the revolution. In this hard 
contested siege, a portion of the Maryland troops was en- 
irasred, maintaining the honor of the State and the fame of 
the old Maryland line. 

The event was hailed, every where, with joy. The legis- 
lature of Maryland was in session, when Washington 
reached Annapolis, on his way to rejoin the northern army. 
To greet his arrival, they passed a vote of thanks, and ap- 
pointed a committee to deliver him an address, on their 
behalf. A splendid entertainment was provided, and, dur- 
ing the two days which he tarried there, the venerable city, 



300 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [17S1. 

crowded to overflowing with happy spectators, presented 
one constant scene of enthusiastic rejoicing. She had the 
proud honor of first, "saluting him as the patriot, the 
HERO, and the saviour of his country." Maryland had 
been the first to propose him for the arduous and responsi- 
ble station, which was to result in the freedom and the glory 
of the new republic, and entitle him to the admiration of 
posterity ; it was meet and just, that Maryland should first 
announce, to him, the gratitude of his country, and bestow 
upon him those titles, which were to render his fame uni- 
versal and never dying. The sons of Maryland had often 
stood foremost in his lines of battle ; they were now the 
foremost to offer him the proud ovation of a republican 
triumph.* 

* Votes and Proceedings. 




() ' 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION. 

J. HE legislature had made every effort to prepare for the 
campaign of 1781, and, conscious of the impossibility of 
meeting the necessary expenses by means of the usual paper 
money, resolved to have recourse to the patriotism of the 
wealthier citizens. Accordingly, it was determined to issue 
two hundred thousand pounds in bills of credit, for the pay- 
ment of which double their value of the confiscated lands 
of the disaffected and British subjects was pledged ; and, 
to give additional support to this new issue, an association 
and subscription were offered for the signatures of the 
patriotic merchants and planters of the State ; by the first 
of which, they agreed to receive these notes at their par 
value, and by the second, to take at once, for the purpose 
of circulation, as much as was set opposite to their names. 
The security, pledged for the redemption of these bills of 
credit, was ample. The amount of the confiscated property 
was large, and but a small portion had yet been sold by the 
commissioners appointed for that purpose. In addition to 
this, the association and subscription were extensively circu- 
lated : public meetings were held in the different counties, 
and the pledges almost universally taken. For a time the 
scheme was successful; but such was the want of confidence 
in paper money, no matter how issued, or in what manner 
secured, that in three months, even these bills had depre- 
ciated to less than half their nominal value.* 
Tory conspi- "^^^^ State, while menaced with invasion by 
•"^^y* Cornwallis, was threatened with domestic insur- 

* Hanson's Laws, 1781, ch. 23, note. 391 

26 



302 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [178L 

rection, which for a time excited an extensive alarm. The 
fortunate discovery and prompt punishment of the conspira- 
tors, however, allayed the excitement and effectually pre- 
vented similar attempts. At the opening of the campaign 
of 1781, the enemy formed the design of invading the 
western frontier from Canada. Gen. Johnston, with a body 
of British troops was to strike at Fort Pitt, whilst Colonel 
Conolly, already once baffled in his designs in Maryland, 
was to proceed secretly to the interior, enlist the friends of 
the cr/Dwn, and assemble a tory force to co-operate with 
him.* It is probable that the preliminary arrangements 
with the western tories were made through the agency of 
the British officers of the convention troops, then prisoners 
at Frederick. Large numbers had already been enrolled 
in that county, and in the neighboring States, when the 
conspiracy was providentially discovered at Frederick. 
Tradition relates that a disopuised British officer was to meet 
a messenger of the traitors at a designated place, to deliver 
into his hands papers containing every information con- 
cerning its progress. The vigilance of the patriots deterred 
the officer from attending at the appointed place, and the 
papers fell in the hands of an American officer, who by a 
singular coincidence was at that moment standing where 
the tory messenger expected his correspondent. The plot 
and the names of the leaders were thus at once disclosed : 
secret and efficient measures were instantly taken. The 
leaders were arrested and sufficient evidence obtained to 
insure their conviction. On the 25th of July, seven were 
brought to trial before a commission, presided over by Judge 
Hanson, found guilty, and sentenced to be hanged, drawn, 
and quartered. Three of their number were executed in 
the court house yard of Frederick.! They persisted to the 
last, that they were only guilty of doing their duty as lawful 

♦ Marshall. f Votes and Proceedings, Senate, Nov. 24th, 1781 ; 

Manuscript copy of Judge Hanson's sentence. 



1782.] HISTORY OP MARYLAND. 303 

subjects of the king of England, whilst their judges and 
executioners were more truly deserving of the name of 
rebels and traitors to their king. Whatever may have 
been the opprobrium cast upon them at that day, it must 
be acknowledged that they met their fate with firmness, 
and suffered in behalf of what they considered a just cause. 
Had the result been different, a different name would have 
been given to their fate : for whilst one side stigmatized 
them as traitors, the other mourned over and honored them 
as true and loyal martyrs. 

After the surrender of Cornwallis, at Yorktown, the 
British government seemed to have abandoned the idea of 
conquering the United States, and only sought to detach 
them from their alliance with France. Accordingly, early 
in 1782, Sir Guy Carleton was despatched to New York, 
with power to make peace or war, " with the revolted colo- 
nies of Great Britain." As soon as his arrival was an- 
nounced, it was unanimously resolved by the legislature of 
Maryland that, "though peace with Great Britain and all 
the world, was an object truly desirable, war with all its 
calamities was preferable to national dishonor. That this 
State could never consent to treat with Great Britain, 
except upon the footing of an equal, and would never enter 
into any treaty with that power, which would sully its own 
honor, or violate its obligations to France, its great and 
good ally." At the same time, to display still further their 
affection for the French people, on the announcement to 
the two houses, by the governor, of the birth of a Dauphin 
of France, they resolved that his excellency should be re- 
quested to appoint, by proclamation, a day for the celebra- 
tion of that auspicious event, testifying their wishes that the 
young prince might prove a blessing to the nation by fol- 
lowing the example of his illustrious father; and that he 
might continue to preserve their affections by perpetu- 
ating that happiness, which they had experienced from an 



304 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [178;2-3. 

alliance with a prince and people whose great and good 
qualities had long since excited their admiration and gra- 
titude.* 

The bay shores were still infested by armed galleys and 
barges, manned by tories and refugees, who plundered the 
unprotected farm-houses, carried off, and sometimes, mur- 
dered the inhabitants. The French fleet, although still 
lying at Yorktown, could not effectually put a period to 
these outrages, for the light draught of their boats enabled 
the perpetrators to escape, where pursuit was impossible. 
The legislature determined to re-establish its State marine, 
and ordered four barges to be equipped and armed with 
eight pieces of cannon, and manned with two hundred and 
fifty men ; and despatched a member of their body to Vir- 
ginia, to obtain the co-operation of that State in an expedi- 
tion to clear the bay. The French commander was also 
solicited to detach an armed brig and sloop, to cover the 
lighter galleys in case an enemy of heavy metal was fallen 
in with. Monsieur Villebrun, then on that station, readily 
afforded the required aid. The commerce of the bay was 
soon relieved ; and the inhabitants protected by these 
effectual measures.! 

But the dangers and alarms of war were near 
their termination. Tired with the struorgle, and 
hopeless of success, England determined to put a close to 
a contest, which from absolute exhaustion on her part, had 
dwindled down to a mere possession of the «ity of New 
York, and a petty marauding system in the bays, and on 
the coasts of the States ; and a provisional treaty was con- 
cluded on the third of February, 1783, actual hostilities 
having ceased a considerable time before. 

Throughout the whole contest Maryland had been dis- 
tinguished for its zeal in support of the common cause — 
ever coming forward with readiness, at the call of the com- 

• Votes and Procedings, Senate. f Ibid. 



Peace with 
Great Britain. 



177&-83.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 305 

mander in chief. In spite of the difficulties, with which it 
was surrounded, it had furnished during the war, to the 
continental army, fifteen thousand two hundred and twenty- 
nine men, in addition to those enlisted in the independent 
corps, the State companies, the marine and naval force ; 
and five thousand four hundred and seven militia.* 
The Mary- ^^ troops in the Continental army had ren- 
land Line, ^q^^q^ better scrvice, endured more fatigue, or 
won greater glory than the Maryland line. In proportion 
to their number, no body of men suffered more severely. 
They were the first to use the bayonet against the expe- 
rienced regulars of the enemy, and that in their earliest 
battle — and, throughout the succeeding struggles of the 
war, they were most often called on to lead with that 
bloody weapon into the ranks of the foe. They seldom 
shrank from the encounter. At Long Island, a fragment of 
a battalion shook, with repeated charges, a whole brigade 
of British regulars. At White Plains, they held the advanc- 
ing columns at bay. At Harlaem Heights, they drove the 
enemy from the ground. At Germantown, they swept 
through the hostile camp, with their fixed bayonets, far in 
advance of the whole army ; and at Cowpens, and at Eutaw, 
their serried ranks bore down all opposition with unloaded 
muskets. And at Guilford, and at Camden, though victory 
did not settle on their banners, they fought with a courage 
which won the admiration and surprise of their enemies. 
Every where they used the bayonet with terrible effect. 

Entering into the war two strong battalions, they were 
soon reduced to a single company. Again swelled up to 
seven regiments, they were again thinned by their losses to 
a single regiment and before the campaign had well passed 
they were once more promptly recruited to four full bat- 
talions of more than two thousand men. 

At least two of their colonels, Williams and Howard, 

* See Appendix, E. 
. 26* Qq 



306 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1783. 

were considered as the best officers of their grade in the 
army. Gunby, Hall, Smith, Stone, Ramsey, and the la- 
mented Ford, who died gallantly at the head of his regi- 
ment, were equal to any others in the whole continental 
service. 

Entitled to a major-general from their own State, and 
two brigadiers, they submitted for a long time to be led by 
strangers ; until, upon the death of the brave De Kalb, 
Smallwood was promoted to the command of the division, 
and Gist, and afterwards the gallant Williams, to that of 
the two brigades. Now that the war was over, the rem- 
nants of the old line and the new regiments, having 
already, upon the scene of their southern exploits, been 
presented, through Gen. Greene, with the thanks of both 
houses of the legislature for their gallantry and good con- 
duct, turned their footsteps towards their native State, to 
be disbanded, and to carry to their homes their honorable 
scars, and constitutions broken by fatigue. 

When about to separate, the officers of the army, rj^g cincin- 
anxious to constitute some binding link of brother- "^^^" 
hood in remembrance of their long service together, deter- 
mined, at the suggestion of Gen. Knox, to form a society, 
to be called in honor of the old Roman patriot, " the Society 
of the Cincinnati." After making some preliminary ar- 
rangements, on the 13th of May, 1783, at the cantonments 
on the Hudson, a meeting of the general and field officers, 
and of delegates from the officers of each regim.ent, was 
held, and the principles of the association agreed upon. 
They proposed as their object, the preservation of those 
liberties for which they had fought and bled ; the main- 
tainance of the union of the States : and the continuance 
of the friendly relations and good offices, which were due 
between companions in arms and sharers of so long and 
perilous a straggle. Their views partook of the highest 
order of benevolence. To affi^rd assistance to those of 



nSS.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 307 

their brethren, or their widows and orphans, who might 
become destitute, a fund was established, and each officer, 
upon his admission to the society was required to deposite 
in it the amount of one month's pay. The right of admis- 
sion to the association was Hmited to those who had fought 
in the revolution and their descendants. Honorary mem- 
bers, however, might be elected from the civilians. A 
distinct society was to be formed in each state, of the offi- 
cers belonging to the line of that State, and the general 
association, composed of five delegates from each of the 
subordinate societies, was required to meet at Philadelphia 
at least every three years. Gen. Washington was chosen 
the first president. He immediately wrote to the principal 
officer in each State, advising the formation of the State 
society.* 
Maryland So- ^'^ Compliance with this request, the officers of 

^^^^^' the Maryland line assembled at Annapolis, on 
the 21st of November, 1783; Gen. Otho H. Williams was 
placed in the chair, and Lieut. Col. John Eccleston made 
secretary. They then organized permanently by electing 
Major Gen. Smallwood president of the society ; Brigadier 
Gen. Gist, vice-president ; Brigadier Gen. Williams, secre- 
tary ; Col. Ramsey, treasurer; and Lieut. Col. Eccleston, 
assistant treasurer.! They selected Annapolis, as the place 
of their annual meetings. The name of the society was 
indeed appropriately assumed from the brave old Roman 
patriot, who, having been taken from the plough to free his 
country from invasion, when his task was accomplished, 
{aid down his sword again to return to the plough. Each 
one there was in truth a Cincinnatus. 

The society, however, was looked upon with distrust and 

jealousy by the people. They dreaded the formation of an 

order of nobility from it; and it was soon every where 

assailed. By the advice of Washington the obnoxious 

* Sparks, 9—22 ; Marshall, v. 30. + See Appendix, F. 



308 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1783. 

features of its constitution, that especially of hereditary 
right of membership, were altered, and the hostility excited 
against it subsided. 

As the war was now closed, it became an „ . ... 

' Seat of the 

object of interesting inquiry, where the seat of National go- 
the national government should be permanently 
located. The people of Maryland, from their central 
position, deemed their State to combine the greatest 
advantages ; and the corporation of Annapolis addressed 
a memorial to the legislature, at the April session of 
1788, offering the city to the general government. The 
two houses, in consequence, directed a proposition to 
be made to congress, tendering to that body, in case it 
removed the seat of government to Annapolis, the use 
and possession of the state-house for their sessions ; the 
public square ; the governor's house, as a residence for 
the president of their body ; thirteen dwelling houses, 
to be erected at the expense of the State, for the ac- 
commodation of the delegates from the thirteen States 
of the Union; and complete jurisdiction over the city 
and people of Annapolis. Congress seemed to be affected 
by several of the reasons set forth in the memorial and 
resolutions, and while they determined to fix the seat 
of government in Maryland, deemed it more prudent to 
select some other place than that already occupied by the 
State capital. They resolved, in October, that it should 
be removed to a site, to be selected upon the Potomac, 
near Georgetown. However, they accepted for the present 
the accommodations, tendered them by the State, and 
adjourned from Princeton to Annapolis. The legislature 
welcomed them with great cordiality, gave up one of 
their halls for their use ; while the governor, William Paca, 
surrendered the government house to their president. 
The legislature further pledged themselves to take suita- 
ble measures, for their permanent establishment, as soon 



17S3.] HISTCJIY OF MARYLAND. 309 

as the site of the new federal city and its boundaries 
should be marked out.* 
,„ ,. , Gen. Washinofton had already notified the 

Washington =" •' 

resigns his several States of his intention to resign his com- 

Commission. • . i i- ^ • ^ t/' tt i 

mission and retire to private lile. He now has- 
tened to Annapolis, where he arrived on the 17th of 
December, to consummate his purpose. He was met a few 
miles from the city, by Generals Gates and Smallwood, 
with the most distinguished citizens of Maryland, and 
escorted to the apartments prepared for his reception. 
His arrival was announced by salvos of artillery. He w^as 
greeted with an enthusiasm, worthy of the venerable city, 
the seat of old colonial politeness, learning and splen- 
dor. The members of congress, honored him with a 
public dinner; at night the state-house was illuminated: 
and a ball, the favorite amusement of Annapolis, given by 
the members of the assembly, and attended by the beauty 
and fashion of the city and the State, and the most dis- 
tinguished men of the confederacy. Addresses were pre- 
sented to him by the legislature and the city authorities, to 
which he replied in his usual dignified and happy manner. 
Every one vied in doing him honor. All the preliminaries 
having been arranged, on the 23d of December, in the 
presence of both houses of the State legislature, the gover- 
nor *and council, many military officers, and a crowd of 
anxious spectators, the great chief entered the senate 
chamber where congress was in session, and advanced 
towards the speaker's chair. After a decorous silence of a 
f^w minutes, he addressed the president and members of 
congress, in a calm yet feeling and eloquent manner. 
When he had concluded, he delivered into the hands of the 
president that great commission, under which he had 
achieved the liberty and independence of America, recom- 
mending his companions in arms to the gratitude of his 
* Votes and Proceedings 



810 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [17S3. 

country, and his country to the care and guidance of the 
Almighty Ruler of heaven and earth. The president, on 
receiving the commission, testified to him, on behalf of con- 
gress and the people of the United States, their gratitude 
for his long, glorious and persevering fidelity to his country ; 
pledged to him, as the highest and noblest of earthly 
rewards, the love and veneration of present and future 
generations ; and invoked the blessings of heaven upon his 
head. Then calmly, as if he had not just resigned the 
highest place in his country's gift and broken the sword of 
his own power for its lasting good, unmoved by the weep- 
ing eyes and sorrowful countenances that mourned his 
adieu — the great man, now truly greatest in heroism, re- 
tired from that hall, which had thus been consecrated for 
ever by this noble scene ; and without one regret, betook 
himself to the domestic seclusion of Mount Vernon. 




CHAPTER XVI. 

EVENTS FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE WAR OF 1812 

1783 — 1812. 

X HE war having closed, the attention of the people and 
the government was drawn to the condition of the finances. 
Not only was the treasury of the United States empty, and 
congress burdened with a debt of forty-two millions of dol- 
lars in specie, but the several States were also involved to a 
large amount. The commissioner of Maryland, Matthew 
Ridley, had succeeded, in 1781-2, in negotiating a loan 
for three hundred thousand guilders, in Holland, with the 
Messieurs Van Staphorst; but the legislature, believing 
the terms to be disadvantageous to the State, in 1783 an- 
nulled the contract, and directed the agent to repay the 
money already in his hands : the aifair however was not 
finally settled for several years. The taxes were collected 
to a great extent in specific articles, which were sold for 
the benefit of the treasury. Every expedient however 
failed to enable it to meet the demands upon it. 

Congress now called on the States to aid it in imposing 
certain duties on exports and imports, to cover the interest 
of the public debt — estimating the proceeds thereof at one 
million dollars, while the balance, a million and a half, was 
divided among the several States. The portion of Mary- 
land amounted to one hundred and forty-one thousand 
five hundred and seventeen dollars.* The legislature im- 
mediately passed a law authorizing congress to levy the 
required duties ; and to restore, as far as possible, the credit 
of the State, ordered the consolidation of all its funds, — 
the collection of the purchase money of confiscated British 

* Pitkin. 311 



312 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [17S3-4. 

estates, the sale of the barges and other public property ; — 
and laid a heavy tax for the ensuing year. Several of the 
States were not so prompt. New York refused to grant 
congress the authority it required ; and some States ne- 
glected to raise their quota of the annual interest, on the 
public debt. It was therefore unpaid, and congress was 
obliged to issue certificates, which soon depreciated to one- 
tenth their nominal value, as the public confidence in the 
authority and resources of the government began rapidly to 
decline. 

Prior to the war, Maryland had invested the sum of 
twenty-seven thousand pounds sterling in the stock of the ♦ 
Bank of England : during the revolution, the legislature 
had drawn bills of credit upon the trustees for the amounts 
of the dividends which had been uniformly protested. 
They now appointed an agent, Samuel Chase, to proceed 
to England and recover the amount of the accumulated 
dividends and to sell the stock, for the purpose of honestly 
meeting their liabilities as speedily as possible. Difficulties 
and disputes arose, and a considerable period elapsed 
before success crowned the efforts of the agent. It was 
at length settled ; and after deducting ten thousand pounds 
paid to the late Proprietary, Mr. Harford, whose claims for 
lands and quit-rents the State had rejected, and discharging 
several other items arranged for in the compromise, the 
proceeds of the sale and collectiojis amounted to the sum 
of six hundred and fifty thousand dollars. A portioJi of 
this sum was afterwards invested in bank stocks now held by 
the State, the balance sunk in works of improvement. 

The burdens of the people, arising from the expendi- 
tures of the war and the derangement of foreign and 
domestic trade, were rendered still more severe by the col- 
lection of debts due to British subjects, which had lain 
dormant during the war, and for the unobstructed recovery 
of which, an article had been inserted in the treaty, con- 



17S4.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 313 

trary to the wishes of several of the States. Yet in the 
midst of all these difficulties, Maryland began to recover 
from the effects of the late struggle, and its statesmen 
looking forward to its future growth and prosperity, laid the 
foundations of those public works, which are destined at no 
distant day to pour into its lap uncounted treasures. A com- 
pany was formed for the purpose of constructing a canal, 
from the Pennsylvania line, along the Susquehanna to tide 
water, and incorporated in 1784, under the name of " The 
Proprietors of the Susquehanna Canal."* 
The Potomac The rich lands of the west and its mild climate 
Company, j^^^ already attracted the attention of the settler, 
and crowds of hardy emigrants flocked thither to make the 
wilderness bloom with civilization. It became a matter of, 
serious importance to open a convenient route for travel 
and transportation between the Atlantic and the growing 
settlements. The position of the Potomac on the map, 
pointed it out as one of the most eligible means of effect- 
ing this desirable object. The idea originated with the 
greatest men of the day: and one of its most ardent friends 
and supporters was Gen. Washington. To carry it into 
effect, Virginia and Maryland appointed conferees who 
assembled at Annapolis on the 22d of December, 1784, to 
devise some united action. Gen. Washington and Gen. 
Gates appeared in behalf of Virginia : Messrs. Thomas 
Stone, Samuel Hughes, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, John 
Cadwallader, Samuel Chase, John De Butts, George Digges, 
Philip Key, Gustavus Scott and Joseph Dashiell, on the 
part of Maryland. 

Gen. Washington was accompanied to Annapolis by the 
Marquis de La Fayette, and the inhabitants of the ancient 
city again vied with each other in doing honor to the Father 
of his country, and his distinguished friend and compatriot. 
Addresses were presented to the marquis, by the governor 
* Hanson's Laws : Votes and Proceedinjrs. 

27 Rr 



314 HISTORY OF MARYLAND.. W^^- 

and council, and by both houses of the legislature. To 
testify further their gratitude for his generous devotion to 
the cause of American liberty, they passed an act to natu- 
ralize him and his heirs male, forever, thus bestowing upon 
them those rights of citizens of Maryland, which he had so 
nobly aided in defending. They also ordered the governor 
to procure a full length portrait of General Washington 
painted by Charles Wilson Peale, a native of Annapolis, in 
pursuance of a resolution passed in 1781, to be placed in 
the hall of the house of delegates, which it still adorns. 

The conferees determined, that to render the Potomac 
navigable was a work worthy of the efforts of the two States, 
as a means of communicating with the West, by a road some 
forty miles in length from the head of its waters to those 
of the Ohio, thus opening an easy channel of communica- 
tion with that rich country. To accomplish this project, it 
was proposed that the two States should charter a com- 
pany to be called "the Potomac Company," and subscribe 
each for fifty shares of its stock ; and direct a survey of the 
route to be made at their joint expense.* Their recom- 
mendations were immediately adopted. The Potomac Com- 
pany was chartered and Gen. Washington was chosen its 
first president. So deep was the interest which he took in 
this great design, that he assisted in the survey of the river, 
in person.! It was then supposed that the Potomac could 
be rendered navigable by locks and dams, and short canals, 
and the works for this purpose were very soon undertaken. 
But experience proved the fallacy of the idea. When the 
Potomac Company was subsequently merged m the Chesa- 
peake and Ohio Canal, these works were abandoned and a 
more comprehensive plan adopted. 

* Votes and Proceedings, Legislature, 1784, p. 24. 

t Tradition says, that his party cut down a tree on the lands of Mr. 
Johnson on the Monocacy, made a canoe, descended that stream, and 
then entered on the survey of the Potomac. 



1782-4.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND 315 

Commissioners were also appointed to consult with com- 
missioners from Delaware and Pennsylvania, on the pro- 
priety of effecting an inland communication between the 
Delaware and Chesapeake bays. The peculiar position of 
Virginia and Maryland, upon the bay, and the navigable 
waters of the Potomac, rendered it necessary that their 
respective rights should be accurately defined ; and a con- 
vention was entered into by the representatives of the two 
States, appointed for the purpose, which secured to Mary- 
land her proper jurisdiction, and protected her in the full 
enjoyment of the navigation of those waters. 

The removal of the dangers and impediments, which had 
obstructed commerce during the war, gave the city of Balti- 
more a new impulse. Situated as it was, it needed only 
the blessings of peace to spring forward rapidly in pros- 
perity ; and the enterprise of its merchants, relieved from 
the incubus which had weighed down their energy, began 
to display itself at once in its increasing commerce and 
population. In 1782, it only numbered eight thousand 
inhabitants ; but from that time it moved onward with an 
impulse, which no difficulties could retard, until it has 
become the third city in the Union, and the commercial 
emporium of the south. 

Ecclesiastical Connected, as the colony had been with Eng- 
^^^' land, several of its religious denominations v/ere 
subject to spiritual superiors in that country. The Cath- 
olics of the State were under the jurisdiction of a vicar 
appointed by the Catholic bishop of London, and the 
Episcopalians were subject to the Protestant bishop of the 
I same city ; while the Methodists looked to Mr. Wesley of 
England for ministerial appointments.* It now became 
desirable to establish separate ecclesiastical organizations; 
and the Catholic clergy assembled at White Marsh, on the 
27th of June, 1783, to draw up a system for their govern- 
* Annals of Baltimore. 



316 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [17S4. 

ment. After several meetings these articles were com- 
pleted, and the Rev. John Carroll, at their request, received 
from Rome the necessary powers of spiritual superior.* A 
few years afterwards he was appointed a bishop, was con- 
secrated in England, whither he went for the purpose, and 
returned to his see of Baltimore in 1790, the first bishop in 
the United States, over the whole of which his diocess 
extended. In IS 10, his see having been divided into 
several bishoprics, he was elevated to the rank and dignity 
of archbishop. 

The Episcopal church had suffered much during the 
revolution from the impossibility of obtaining ordination for 
its clergymen. It was a common want throughout the 
country: and the Rev. Samuel Seabury, of Connecticut, 
was despatched to England in 1784, to obtain consecration 
as a bishop of the Episcopal church. Many obstacles were 
there thrown in his path, but he returned in the ensuing 
year. Several others, in due time, were consecrated, and 
in 1789, the Book of Common Prayer, as now used, was 
ratified and adopted by a convention of that church. The 
application of the Methodists to Mr. Wesley, resulted in 
the appointment of Dr. Thomas Coke as superintendent.! 

Whilst these steps were in progress for the reorganization 
of the religious bodies, the cause of learning and science 
was not neglected. A college had been established at 
Chestertown, on the Eastern Shore — named in honor of the 
Father of his country, Washington College. An additional 
college in connection with it, and under the patronage of 
Rev. Drs. Carroll, Smith and Allison, was now opened at 
Annapolis, under the title of " St. John's College ;" and the 
two were erected into the " University of Maryland." 
Various other measures were taken for the advancement of 
education — the best means of securing the prosperity of the 

* Life and Times of Archbishop Carroll, by B. U. Campbell. 
\ Annals of Baltimore. 



1785.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 317 

State and the permanency of its institutions by the enlight- 
ment of the people. 

The land office was again opened, and the bounty promised 
the soldiers of the line laid off for them. The officers were 
not neglected. The depreciation of their pay was made 
good to them, and those, who had served in the indepen- 
dent corps, were placed upon the same footing with regard 
to half pay and pensions, as the officers of the line. Upon 
their commander, a higher reward was bestowed. On the 
expiration of the term, for which William Paca was eli- 
gible, in 1785, Major Gen. Smallwood was elected gover- 
nor; and continued in the office durinof three successive 
years. He was succeeded by Col. John Eager Howard, 
whose terms extended into 1791 — ample proofs of the 
affectionate regard of the people and legislature towards 
the gallant men who had won so much glory for Maryland. 

But the memory of Smallwood seems nearly forgotten; 
and, on his paternal estate now in the hands of strangers, 
he sleeps in a lonely grave, by the waters of the Potomac, 
almost within si(jht of the tomb of his great leader at 
Mount Vernon — near him in death as he had adhered to 
him in life. Faithful, modest, brave and patient in his 
life, he sleeps there in death, unhonored, without a tomb- 
stone to mark the spot, or an enclosure to protect his last 
resting place from desecration- — seldom remembered by 
those who pass between the graves of the two generals — to 
the capital of the nation. 

Constitution While Maryland was thus rising out of the 
of the Union, niidst of those difficulties, which the trying strug- 
gle of the revolution had left behind- — the national congress 
was every day sinking more rapidly, in the estimation of 
the people, until all its authority, based as it was upon 
public opinion, passed away from it. The pressure of 
State and national debt, the troubles brought on by the 
collection of the claims of British creditors — the most ob- 



318 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1735-7. 

noxious of all — and the renewed paper issues of the northern 
States, who failed to meet the crisis by imposing taxes, as 
Maryland had done, produced a state bordering on anarchy. 
In Massachusetts, the courts were closed and the judges 
prevented from performing their official duties, and the 
whole power of the government set at defiance. Partial 
insurrection broke out in other States. The federal govern- 
ment was almost powerless. Fortunately there was still 
sufficient patriotism in eastern Massachusetts to maintain 
order, and General Lincoln, at the head of four thousand 
militia, succeeded in quelling the disturbance. But one 
thing these events evidenced to all — that there was no 
hope of national prosperity and strength, without the 
infusion of a more vital and energetic spirit in the gene- 
ral constitution. 

It was at length proposed, that commissioners, from the 
different States, should assemble at Annapolis, to take into 
consideration the condition of the nation. In September, 
1786, delegates from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
New Jersey and New York, attended ; as the States were 
but partially represented, they deferred the business for 
which they had assembled, and issued an address, calling 
on all the States to send delegates to a convention to meet 
at Philadelphia, on the second Monday of May, 1787, to 
devise some means to give stability to the confederation. 
The proposition was approved by congress, and adopted by 
nil the States, excepting Rhode Island.* On the twenty- 
third of April, 1787, the legislature of Maryland selected 
five delegates, by joint ballot, to represent the State in the 
convention about to assemble, with power to revise the 
articles of confederation. They were Robert Hanson Har- 
rison, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Thomas Stone, James 
McHenry, and Thomas Sim Lee. Several of these gentle- 
men having declined, others were elected in their stead, 

* Pitkin. 



1787.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 319 

and on the '26ih of May, when the act of appointment 
finally passed, the delegation was composed of James 
McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jennifer, Daniel Carroll, 
John Francis Mercer, and Luther Martin.* 

On the 14th of May, the convention assembled at Phila- 
delphia, and organized by electing Gen. Washington presi- 
dent of the body. On the 17th of September, 1787, they 
concluded their labors, and agreed upon the present con- 
stitution and form of government of the United States, 
which they laid before congress. That body immediately 
directed that copies of the constitution should be trans- 
mitted to the several legislatures, to be submitted to a con- 
vention of delegates, chosen in each State by the people, 
in conformity with the resolves of the convention. 

The legislature of Maryland, in compliance with this 
resolve, on the first of December in the same year, by reso- 
lution, recommended the people of the State ''to submit 
the proceedings of the federal convention, to a convention 
of the people for their full and free investigation and deci- 
sion." For this purpose, they further recommended, "that 
such of the inhabitants, as were entitled to vote for dele- 
gates in the assembly, should choose four persons for each 
county, and two for the cities of Baltimore and Annapolis, 
in the mode prescribed for holding other elections, to serve 
in the said convention." The qualifications of delegates 
were, that they should be citizens of the State, twenty-one 
years of age, having resided therein at least three years, and 
in the county twelve months before the election. The 
convention was directed to assemble at Annapolis, on the 
twenty-first of April, 1788, — if they approved the constitu- 
tion, "to ratify it finally in behalf of the State and report 
their action to conm-ess." 

This great question naturally divided the opinions of the 
people. Every one admitted the necessity of immediate 
* Votes and Proceedings. 



320 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1788. 

change ; and, whilst one party were inclined to strengthen 
the State authority at the expense of the general govern- 
mentj dreading too great a centralization of power, and a 
gradual destruction of freedom and State independence ; 
the other, principally those who had served during the war, 
hoped to derive from an efficient national government, that 
unity which would ensure prosperity, and that stability 
which would demand respect from abroad and secure at 
home the blessings of peace, order, and good government. 
In the national convention various plans had been pro- 
posed ; and out of the clashing extremes and the conflict- 
ing feelings and interests represented there, generated by 
the spirit of compromise, and matured by an assemblage of 
talent never surpassed, had sprung into existence that great 
instrument, the constitution of the United States. Under 
its admirable workino-s the old thirteen, tremblino^ from the 
effects of a long and trying war, and already shrinking in 
fear from domestic anarchy and confusion, received new 
strength and energy, and have grown with their younger 
sisters of the south and west, to greatness and prosperity 
far beyond the v^^ildest dreams of the most sanguine of its 
framers, Yet it was then only an experiment; and it had 
warm opponents. Its friends immediately began to advo- 
cate it before the public, and the papers written in its ex- 
planation and defence, under the title of " the Federalist," 
by Madison, Hamilton and Jay, became afterwards a great 
constitutional authority for its interpretation. 

The Maryland convention assembled at Anna- ^, 

•' • The Mary 

polis on Monday, the twenty-first of April, and landconven- 
organized by electing the Hon- George Plater, ^^ 
president, and Wm. Harwood, clerk. On the 23d the pro- 
posed form of government was read the first time, and it 
was thereupon resolved that the convention would not enter 
into any discussion upon it until after the second reading. 
On Thursday the 24th, after its second reading, several ob- 



1788.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 321 

jections to the constitution were debated ; and Wm. Paca, 
of Hartford, after stating his views asked the convention to 
adjourn over to the next day to give him time to prepare 
amendments to accompany the ratification, which was ac- 
cordingly done. When the convention assembled, how- 
ever, it was urged by many of the delegates that the mem- 
bers had been elected solely to ratify and confirm the con- 
stitution on behalf of the State, and, the majority sustain- 
ing this view, the amendments were not received. The 
objections to the constitution were, however, still urged 
until Saturday evening, when the final question was put 
" whether the convention assent to and ratify the proposed 
plan of federal government for the United States." It was 
carried in the affirmative by a vote of sixty-three to eleven. 
A certificate of their ratification was signed by the mem- 
bers on the 2Sth, and despatched to congress.* 

The constitution having been thus ratified, on motion of 
Mr. Paca a committee of thirteen was appointed to draft 
amendments, a series of which, thirteen in number, were 
agreed to in committee, while fifteen others were rejected 
by the majority of the committee. Unable to agree upon 
the latter series, the majority determined to make no writ- 
ten report of amendments to the convention, but those 
which had been agreed on by the committee were read to 
that body by Wm. Paca, the chairman. Having passed 
a vote of thanks to the president, the convention then ad- 
journed after a session of nearly two weeks.! 

On the 2d of July, 1788, the ratification of the new con- 
stitution by nine States, including Maryland, was laid 
before the old congress, then still in session ; and prepara- 
tions were immediately made for carrying it into effect. 
The States were directed to appoint their electors on the 
first Wednesday of January, 1789, who were to assemble 
at New York on the first Wednesday of February to cast 

* See Appendix, I. f Elliot's Debates on the Fed. Con. vol. 2. 

Ss 



322 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1788. 

their votes for president and vice president of the United 
States ; and the month of March was fixed as the time, and 
New York the place, for commencing proceedings under 
the new constitution.* 

In several articles — the second and eiijhth sections — the 
new national constitution clashed with and repealed pro- 
visions (the 26th and 33d) of the existing constitution of 
Maryland, although adopted by a convention of the people 
assembled by a simple resolution of the legislature, and fol- 
lowed by no other sanction or ratification ; — a proceeding 
seemingly subversive of the fifty-ninth article of the State 
constitution. But it is scarcely credible, that the states- 
men of Maryland at the very moment when they were 
endeavoring to increase the stability of the national, would 
have deliberately disregarded the requisitions of the State 
constitution. It is, perhaps, more probable that they under- 
stood the restriction of the fifty-ninth article, taken in con- 
nection with the forty-second section of the declaration of 
rights, as binding only on the legislature, and in no man- 
ner interfering with the right of the people to alter and 
amend, or renew that instrument by means of a convention 
assembled by a simple resolution— a construction strongly 
contended for at the present day. They seemed to have 
considered, that as a convention of the people had power 
to frame a constitution at the outset, so a similar body 
under the very theory of the government, properly con- 
stituted, would always have power to alter or renew it; 
and the forty-second and fifty-ninth articles simply provi- 
ded an additional means and conferred a new power, by 
which amendments might be made, through the legislature, 
thereby rendering unnecessary a too frequent resort to 
conventions. 

The national legislature, composed of senators and re- 
presentatives from eleven States, assembled at New York 
* Pitkin, vol. 2, 291. 



nSd.} HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 323 

on the 4th of March, 1789 ; a quorum was not obtained, 
until the 6th of April, when the electoral votes were 
counted, and George Washington was declared to be, 
unanimously, elected president, and John Adams, by a 
majority, vice-president.* The six electoral votes of Mary- 
land were cast for Washington, for president, and Robert 
Hanson Harrison, of Maryland, for vice-president. Gen. 
Washington was, accordingly, notified of his election; and 
hastening to New York, amid the gratulations of a whole 
people, making his progress one triumphal ovation, was 
qualified on the 30th of April, 1789. Congress was imme- 
diately occupied in bringing into order the distracted affairs 
of the government, and in discussing several amendments 
of the constitution, which w^ere afterwards adopted, and 
which were confirmed by the States. 

Public Debt. Before the close of the session, they directed 
Mr. Hamilton, secretary of the treasury, to report at their 
next session a plan for the restoration of the national credit. 
His report was presented in January, 1790, and, in com- 
pliance with its suggestions, congress determined to assume 
twenty-one millions and a half of the State debts, issuing to 
the creditors certificates of loans, bearing interest, annually, 
at the rate of three and six per cent. By this measure Mary- 
land was relieved of ei^ht hundred thousand dollars of its 
debt ; and as congress, to render these steps effective, at once 
established a tariff of duties on imports, the credit of the 
State, thus aided, rose rapidly with that of the nation. Its 
expenditures during the war amounted to the enormous 
sum of seven millions five hundred and sixty-eight thou- 
sand one hundred and forty-five dollars and thirty-eight 
cents, in specie ; of this amount the old federal congress 
had advanced, at several periods, an aggregate of one mil- 
lion five hundred and ninety-two thousand six hundred and 
thirty-one dollars and thirty-eight cents, leaving an actual 
* Pitkin; Marshall. 



324 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1790. 

outlay by this State of five millions nine hundred and 
seventy-five thousand five hundred and fourteen dollars.* 
A large portion of its expenditures had been met by the 
proceeds of the confiscated British property, and by the 
taxes which were yearly imposed during the revolution and 
continued after its close. 

As soon as congress had passed the necessary laws for 
the organization of the government, the president made his 
appointment of public officers. Robert H. Harrison, of 
Maryland, was nominated one of the associate justices of 
the Supreme Court of the United States ; William Paca, 
judge of the District Court of Maryland; Richard Potts, 
attorney ; Col. N. Ramsey, marshal ; and Capt. Joshua 
Barney, clerk : Gen. Otho H. Williams, collector of the 
port of Baltimore ; Robert Purviance, naval officer ; and 
Col. Robert Ballard, surveyor.! 

The first electors and members of congress, had been 
chosen by general ticket. The legislature, in 1790, in 
order to carry the constitution into effect, divided the State 
into six congressional districts, and directed that one 
member should be selected from each. Electors were still 
to be chosen by general ticket, but at least three of them 
were required to be taken from the Eastern Shore. The 
voting was in all cases mVa voce, and not by ballot. Upon 
an increase of the number of the representatives to eight, a 
different division became necessary, and the State was laid 
off into ten electoral districts. 

The national government had not yet adopted District of 
any permanent residence, for the resolutions of c;oiurabia. 
of the old federal congress were not carried into effect. 
Several States had made a tender of ground, for its location, 
but none so liberal as that already offered by Maryland. 
The State, now, made another proposition to the new con- 
gress, and directed its representatives to cede to the United 
• Pitkin. \ Annals of Bait., he. 



1790-3.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



325 



States, a district of ten miles square, in any portion of its 
territory which congress might select. That body, for a 
long while, hesitated between the Delaware and the Poto- 
mac. Party spirit already ran very high, and sectional feel- 
ing entered into the deliberation. At length the southern- 
ers prevailed; the Potomac was selected: and time has 
proved the propriety of the choice. Washington, Madison, 
Lee and Carroll, were among the friends of the present 
site, and they urged, as their reasons, that the seat of 
government should be removed from the neighborhood of 
populous cities,— should be as central as possible, and, 
while at the head of tide water on the Atlantic, in such a 
position, as would enable it, at some future day, to be con- 
nected by a noble canal with the great waters of the west. 
For this reason the present site was selected. The hill 
upon which the capitol was afterwards built was already 
called Rome, and the rivulet which washed its base, the 
Tiber;— omens of the future greatness of the Republic, 
whose capitol was about to be erected there— a capitol, 
which would in itself, renew the glories of the old Roman 
Republic, and send its conquering stars and stripes- 
stars for its friends and stripes for its foes— o'er sea 
and land, into climes where the Roman Eagle never 

penetrated. 

Messrs. Johnson, Stewart and Carroll, were appointed 
commissioners, in 1790— the district was laid out on both 
sides of the Potomac, ten miles square, embracing nearly 
equal portions of Virginia and Maryland-including George- 
town and Alexandria, and called, -the Territory of Colum- 
bia." The new city, whose site was selected for the 
National Metropolis on the Maryland side, was named in 
honor of the Father of his country, the city of Washington. 
On the 18th of September, 1793, the corner-stone of the 
north wing of the Capitol, was laid by Gen. Washington in 
per-^on. The public buildings, however, were not suffi- 
28 



326 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1794. 

ciently advanced to admit the removal of the government 
thither, until the year 1800, when congress met there for the 
first time in the month of November. But Washington, the 
great patron and friend of the new city, did not live to see 
that day. He died on the 14th of December, 1799. 

Finding that the duties on imports were insuf- The Whiskey 
ficient to supply the wants of the treasury, con- insurrection, 
gress determined to levy an internal excise ; and whiskey, 
as one of the most common and deleterious articles of 
consumption, was selected as the principal subject. The 
tax met with great opposition, especially in western Penn- 
sylvania. It had increased to such a height, in 1794, that 
the revenue officers were no longer able to perform their 
duties. For three years, this lawless population set the 
measure at defiance, and they, at length, proceeded to acts 
of violence against the officers of the United States. The 
marshal of the district was captured by an armed mob, his 
life threatened, and he was compelled, under the fear of 
immediate death, to engage not to serve any process, west 
of the Alleghanies. The house of Gen. Neville, the in- 
spector, was assailed : — he made his escape, — but, a small 
garrison of soldiers from Pittsburg attempting its defence, 
it was taken by assault and burned to the ground. The 
whole region was in arms, and Gen. Washington, having 
resorted in vain to every peaceable means, determined to 
quell the insurrection with the sword. Requisitions were 
made upon the governors of Maryland, Pennsylvania, New 
Jersey and Virginia, for their quotas of fifteen thousand 
men, to be ready at a minute's warning.* An attempt at 
conference failed — and it being reported that the insurgents 
were gathering in force at Cumberland in Maryland, for the 
purpose of marching on the arsenal at Frederick, whither 
the arms of the State had been removed at the close of the 
revolution, an immediate call for the troops of Maryland, 
• Sparks ; Marshal ; Proclamations, &c. 



"!«,.> 



1794-7.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 327 

was made by the governor, and promptly answered. Five 
hundred men marched from Baltimore alone, and the re- 
mainder of the requisition was filled up by the militia of the 
counties, who came forward with the greatest alacrity. The 
general point of rendezvous was Cumberland : and the 
whole militia force was placed under the command of Gov. 
Lee, of Maryland. The march of the army produced a 
salutary effect, — a bloodless victory was every where ob- 
tained, many of the ringleaders were taken, and the insur- 
rection having been completely crushed, the troops were 
dismissed to their homes. 

The French The difficulties, which had arisen in Europe 
^'^'^' out of the French revolution, soon extended 
themselves to this country. Genet, the representative of 
the directory, defied the president, and appealed to the 
people ; but he was recalled, and another less violent, 
Fauchet, sent in his stead. A large portion of the nation, 
grateful for the past assistance of France, seemed disposed 
to overlook the outrages of that people against American 
commerce, and only to entertain hostility towards England. 
These questions entered deeply into party politics. The 
democrats sided with France, the federalists were desirous 
of punishing her infringements of the national rights : and, 
the latter being more powerful, active measures were re- 
solved upon against the directory. Congress ordered an 
increase of the army, the command of which was bestowed 
by President Adams on Gen. Washington, who once more 
left his retirement, at Mount Vernon, to draw his sword in 
his country's cause. The choice of the general officers was 
left to his discretion : and he selected Col. John Eager 
Howard, as one of his brigadier generals. But the cloud 
passed with but a few distant rumblings ; two or three 
French ships of war were captured ; and the directory at 
leno-th consented to receive an American minister, and 
the subjects of disputes were arranged. 



^28 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1800. 

In the mean while, a contest had arisen, in _,. , , 

' ' The riglit of 

Maryland for the enlargement of the right of suffrage en- 
suffrage. The restriction of a property qualifi- " 
cation, was justly obnoxious to a large class of honest and 
industrious men, whom it deprived of the franchises secured 
to wealth. It is not to be supposed that a people, as 
democratic as the people of Maryland, would long permit 
such a principle to remain engrafted upon their constitu- 
tion. Even before the close of the revolution, in the con- 
tests which arose between the house and the senate, the 
former body displayed the popular tendency towards more 
enlarged views ; whilst the latter body, from its composition 
and mode of selection, was strongly conservative. In the 
high party times which followed the administration of 
Washington, the question was agitated with great bitter- 
ness, increasing the asperity of the political contests. It 
became the leading topic in State politics, and elections 
turned upon it. At length the popular party were suc- 
cessful ; but it was after a long struggle. The house of 
delegates, in 1800, having passed a bill to extend the right 
of suffrage to every free white male citizen, twenty-one 
years of age, who had resided twelve months in the State 
and six in the county prior to the election, the senate 
proposed an amendment, requiring that the voter should 
also have been assessed and paid a tax twelve months 
before the election, and insisted upon two years residence 
in the State. These amendments the house contended, 
would make the bill, an empty gift — for it would be not 
only to retain but to enlarge the property qualification, 
and would deprive of the right of suffrage many, who 
already possessed it — whose property was greater in value 
than that required for a voter, but still under the limit 
of that upon which taxation was imposed. Neither body 
would recede from its position ; and the bill fell to the 
ground. 



lSOl-2.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 329 

The controversy, however, was only renewed with greater 
energy by the advocates of popular rights. At the ensuing 
session of 1801, the bill was again introduced into the house, 
and passed by a vote of forty-eight to fourteen. At the 
same time, to warn the senate of the danger of further 
opposition, the committee who reported the bill, suggested 
that the legislative part of the constitution was defective, 
and required amendment. That the senate were elected so 
indirectly, and for so long a period — five years — with the 
anomalous power of filling vacancies in their own body, 
that they were no longer responsible to the people ; that the 
council, also, required modification ; and as the alteration 
of the constitution in the manner prescribed by that instru- 
ment, would make it a constitution only to be found in acts 
of assembly, advised that a bill recommending a convention 
to assemble in 1803, should be passed to take effect if 
confirmed by the succeeding legislature. The committee 
seemed to have considered that course necessary, differing 
with the legislature of 1786, who called a convention by a 
simple resolution, although the act of that convention, not 
only in effect, repealed at least one clause in the consti- 
tution, but took away from the State a portion of its sov- 
ereignty and nationality. The threat of the house was 
effective. On the 21st of December, the suffrage bill was 
sent to the senate : on the 2Sth, it was passed, with a single 
verbal amendment. Early in the session of 1802, the 
confirmatory act was passed by the house, by a large ma- 
jority, and immediately after unanimously assented to in 
the senate. Thus was Maryland thrown far in advance of 
most of the sister States, for only one other, — Vermont — 
had already so far extended the right of suffrage.* 

But not only was this odious restriction removed for ever, 
but another scarcely less oppressive upon the freedom of elec- 
tions, the viva voce vote, for which the ballot and the ballot 
* Votes and Proceedings of House and Senate. 
28* T t 



330 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1804. 

box were substituted. The property qualification, was still 
thrown round the offices of the State ; but, the first step 
taken, the second could not be long resisted. In June 
1809, all such clauses of the constitution, as required a 
property qualification in persons holding offices of profit 
or trust, were repealed ; and the act was confirmed in the 
November session of the same year. 

Whilst this amelioration of the organic law of New Judicial 
the State was thus progressing to a conclusion, System, 
the old judicial system was abolished and the present one 
adopted. The State was divided into six judicial districts, 
for each of which, three persons of integrity and sound 
legal knowledge, residents of their respective districts and 
citizens of the State, were to be appointed judges — one to 
be chief, the other two associate, justices for the county 
courts throughout the districts. The court of appeals was 
composed of the chief justices of the six judicial districts, 
and was to hold its sessions both on the Eastern and Western 
Shores. To secure impartiality in its decisions, it was pro- 
vided that the judge, who had given an opinion in the case 
below, should withdraw from the bench at its trial in the 
court of appeals, so that the number of the acting justices of 
the tribunal was generally reduced to five. 

The national relations with foreign States, Difficulties 
began every day to grow more gloomy. The """*' England, 
aggressions of the bashaw of Tripoli had been promptly 
resented.* The more trying oppressions of England were 
borne with, for a little while longer, in the vain hope of 
obtaining justice by remonstrance, 

Napoleon had brought the continent of Europe at his 
feet, and only England defied his power. Her fleets swept 

* Lt. George Washington Mann, a Mary lander, and one of the two who 
first planted the American standard on the walls of Derne under Gen. 
Eaton, was presented by the legislature with a handsome sword and 
belt as a testimonial of his bravery ; also Charles Gordon, John Trippe 
and John Davis, were noticed for their gallantry. 



V 



1306-8.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



33l 



the ocean, seizing the property and impressing the citizens 
of the United States, in spite of their privileges as neutrals. 
But the immense benefits derived from the neutrality, by 
the increased carrying trade, and the demand for American 
productions, made many persons desirous of perpetuating 
this state of affairs, at every sacrifice, even that of honor 
and patriotism. No city, in the Union, felt the impulse of 
prosperity from this increase of commerce more than Bal- 
timore. She advanced rapidly in wealth and population. 

England jealous of the growing naval power of the 
States, at length determined that American vessels, bearing 
French products, were lawful prize ; and laid most of the 
ports of France under embargo. France retaliated by the 
famous Berlin Decree of November, 1806, declaring the 
British islands in a state of blockade, and all neutral vessels, 
trading thither, liable to capture. The system of British 
impressments was even attempted upon national vessels ; 
and the United States ship Chesapeake was fired into, 
upon the refusal of her commander to submit to a search. 
The public indignation was thoroughly aroused : and Mary- 
land was not behind the other States, in the expression of 
its resolution to maintain the honor of the country. Pub- 
lic meetings were every where held, for this purpose, and 
the legislature voted an address to President Jefferson, 
declaring that they were ready to submit to all the hardships 
and dangers of war, rather than permit so gross an outrage 
to the honor of the nation to pass unpunished. 
The Embargo. On the 2d of July an embargo was declared, 
closing the ports of the United States against British ves- 
sels, and congress ordered one hundred thousand militia to 
hold themselves in readiness for service. The English 
government disavowed the outrage : but the embargo was 
continued. The maritime communities were greatly dis- 
tressed, and clamored for its repeal : and the house of dele- 
gates, in 1808, passed a resolution instructing the Maryland 



332 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1803-12. 

representatives in congress to vote for its suspension. The 
senate, however, rejected the resolution, contending that 
the measure was wise, just and necessary ; and their deci- 
sion was sustained by both branches of the next legislature. 
Deeming war inevitable, the same assembly endeavored to 
foster home manufactures, to replace the supplies, which 
would thus be cut off from Europe, and urged the people 
of the State to clothe themselves in domestic fabrics. They 
further directed their representatives in congress, strenu- 
ously to support the administration of Madison, in every 
retaliatory measure. The people earnestly seconded the 
designs of the legislature ; associations were every where 
formed for the encouragement of domestic manufactures, 
and in Baltimore a company was incorporated under the 
name of " the Athenian Society," with a considerable 
capital, to establish a warehouse for the reception and sale 
of such articles. To aid in the advancement of this design, 
the society offered annual premiums for the best domestic 
productions ; and the members of the legislature and the 
people at large, made it their pride to appear clothed in 
the fabrics of the State.* 

But new delays only brought forth new insults and out- 
rages from the imperious government of England, until the 
whole country became clamorous for war. It was at length 
declared on the 18th of June, 1812. Although the prevail- 
ing sentiment of the people was in its favor, a few violently 
opposed the propriety and expediency of the measure. 
The publishers of a newspaper, called the Federal Repub- 
lican, had bitterly assailed the administration, and, having 
removed from Georgetown to Baltimore, issued their paper 
in that city, filled with violent articles in opposition to the 
war. The indignation of the people was aroused ; — they 
gathered around the office of publication, for the purpose 
of destroying it, while the friends of the editors prepared 
* Annals of Baltimore ; Votes and Proceedings. 



■i^ 'ViiXj^.i 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



333 



for its defence against the illegal violence of the mob. 
After a spirited resistance, in which one person was killed 
and several wounded, they surrendered to the authorities, 
and were conducted to the jail for their protection. In the 
ensuing night, the jail was broken open by the excited 
mob, who practised the greatest barbarity on the persons 
of their victims. One was killed ; the rest were cruelly 
beaten, and only escaped by passing for dead. They now 
threatened the post office, in which several of the obnoxious 
papers were said to be deposited, but the civil and military 
authorities at length obtained the mastery, and the disturb- 
ance was quelled.* 



* Perkin's Late War ; Annals, &c. 




CHAPTER XVII. 



THE WAR OF 1812. 



Jo OR a time, the war was principally waged upon the 
ocean and the northern frontier, and Maryland only bore 
part in its deeds through its fearless privateers, and its 
soldiers and its sailors, distributed throughout the national 
army and navy, and no longer distinguished in a separate 
corps, as under the old confederacy. But the horrors of 
invasion were soon brought into its borders. The Chesa- 
peake presented too favorable an opening for the British 
fleet, to escape their depredations; and in March, 1813, 
Admiral Cockburn made his appearance in its waters, with 
four ships of the line and six frigates. He immediately 
began a series of disgraceful outrages against the property 
and persons of the unarmed citizens. Even the women 
and children did not escape the cruelty of these monsters. 
French town, Havre de Grace, Frederick town (on the 
Eastern Shore), and Georgetown, were plundered and 
burned. 

In the assault upon Havre de Grace, a gallant defence 
was made by an Irishman, named O'Neale, who manned a 
battery himself, and kept up a hot fire upon the approach- 
ing force of the enemy in nineteen barges, until he was 
disabled by a wound in the leg, received from the recoil of 
the cannon he was firing. He then continued the fi^ht 
with two muskets, which he loaded and fired until he was 
captured by the enemy. They threatened to hang him as 
a British subject, found in arms ; but the determination of 
the Americans to execute two British soldiers in reprisal, 
induced them to spare his life, and the " true and brave 

334 



1813-14.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 335 

adopted citizen" was received as a prisoner of war 
Wherever a body of militia was collected, Admiral Cock- 
burn held aloof. He threatened Annapolis^ but it was 
prepared for defence ; and, after sounding the harbor, 
he retired. He approached Baltimore, but five thousand 
citizens were in arms, resolved and eager to give him that 
reception which his barbarian outrages deserved ; and he 
shrunk from the encounter.* He preferred a more safe and 
profitable, though a more inglorious warfare ; and private resi- 
dences and the smaller bay craft, as well as other shipping, 
were plundered and consumed. So extensive was the 
destruction, that at night the shores and waters of the bay 
were lit up with the continuous conflagration. 

Battle of ^^^ ^^ attempt to invade the interior was 
niadensburg. ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^j^^ ^^^^ following, when the British 

fleet, having been largely reinforced, a body of men five 
thousand strong, under Gen. Ross, was landed at Bene- 
dict, on the Patuxent, and commenced its march towards 
Washington. Immediately the militia of the State and 
District of Columbia assembled, to the number of about 
three thousand men under Gen. Winder, to oppose their 
progress. But this small and undisciplined force was com- 
pelled to retire before them until they reached the village 
of Bladensburg on the 24th of August. Here they were 
reinforced by a body of twenty-one hundred men, under 
Gen. Stansbury, including^ the gallant fifth regiment, the 
elite of Baltimore, under Col. Sterrett, several rifle compa- 
nies commanded by Major Pinckney ; and two companies 
of artillery under Myers and Magruder; and by the sailors 
and marines, under Commodore Barney, who had been 
compelled to destroy his flotilla of gun boats to prevent its 
falling into the hands of the enemy. It was now deter- 
mined to make a stand and risk a battle, in defence of the 
capitol. Gen. Stansbury was stationed on the left of the 

• Niles' Register. 



336 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1814. 

road, leading to Washington, with his artillery in a breast 
work near the bridge over the Western Branch, with the 
Baltimore volunteers in advance. Col. Beall, with eight 
hundred militia, was placed on the right of the road, while 
Winder, in person, commanded the main body a short 
distance in the rear. The heavy artillery, under Commo- 
dore Barney, was posted on an eminence commanding the 
road. The president of the United States reviewed the 
army, but withdrew to the city before the commencement 
of the action. 

As soon as the enemy appeared in sight they formed and 
moved towards the bridge, but they were received with a 
destructive fire from the batteries and the Baltimore rifles, 
and driven back in disorder. They immediately re-formed 
under cover of a tobacco-house and again advanced. The 
head of their columns was again thrown into confusion ; 
but they at length forced their way across the bridge, and 
having overpowered the rifles and the fifth, after a brave 
resistance, drove back Gen. Stansbury's force, capturing 
one of their pieces of artillery. Col. Beall's militia retreated 
with great precipitation, and another detachment of Anna- 
polis militia were also thrown back in disorder on the main 
body. The enemy now advanced briskly along the road^ 
certain of an easy victory, when Barney's battery opened 
upon them in front, and Col. Millar, with the marines, poured 
in a heavy fire upon their flank. The first discharge of 
Barney's pieces swept across their columns, with terrible 
effect, opening a wide avenue through the human barrier. 
Obliquing to the left, in hopes of escaping the range of the 
cannon, the British grenadiers fell upon Millar's marines. 
They were met with the greatest firmness, "vvhile the sailors 
of the gallant commodore still poured a destructive fire 
upon their closing ranks. They could endure it no longer; 
and the advance of the enemy was driven back upon the 
main body in disorder. The moment was critical, but 



1814.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 337 

from the want of a sustaining force, the Americans were 
unable to follow up their advantage ; and JRoss, having 
rallied his men, extended his front, so as to attack, at the 
same moment, the marines in front and on both flanks, and 
bring a heavy column up against the battery. Thus assailed, 
the marines could not hold their ground, and Col. Millar 
being wounded, Capt. Sevier ordered them to retire. 
Barney, no longer sustained by a column of infantry, was 
unable to maintain his position, though, his gallant sailors 
continued to work their guns, as coolly as on ship-board, 
until they were surrounded, and some of their number 
bayonetted at their posts. Then, only, they retired, leaving 
their gallant commodore covered with honorable wounds, a 
prisoner in the hands of the enemy. 

Thus far, at least, defeat had not brought disgrace. Even 
while Barney and Millar seemed to be on the point of 
driving back the foe, the main body of the militia and a 
body of regular cavalry and infantry never brought into 
action had been ordered to fall back without having yet 
fired a gun. A retreat, however unwillingly commenced, 
with undisciplined militia, soon becomes a route ; and the 
men who had chafed at the folly of their leaders, in with- 
drawing them almost in the moment of victory and when 
anxious for the conflict, now that their backs were turned 
upon the foe, were seized with a sudden panic, broke 
their ranks and many of them dispersed to their homes. 
Washington, the metropolis of the Union, was the prize 
of the victors ; and like the Vandal and the Goth, they 
gave to the flames the capitol itself, the president's house, 
the treasury, war, and navy offices, the national records, 
and the library together with other public and private pro- 
perty — a transaction unequalled in modern times for its 
disgraceful barbarity. Having thus completed their glory 
and shame, they returned to their shipping at Benedict, 
having lost in the expedition four hundred men, killed 
29 Uu 



338 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1814. 

and wounded, and five hundred prisoners. The loss of the 
Americans, in the battle of Bladensburg, was about thirty 
killed, fifty wounded and one hundred ajid twenty taken 
prisoners. 

The disgraceful termination of the fight, at Bladensburg, 
may be in part accounted for by the unprepared state of the 
force, collected to defend Washington. Many of the troops 
arrived on the ground, just in time to fall into the line, and, 
under such circumstances, it could scarcely be expected 
that militia would make a stand. Their conduct seems to 
have been effected by the perturbation of those to whom 
the defence of the city was entrusted, whose imbecility had 
in face of sufficient warning, permitted the enemy to find 
the capital of the Union, so unprepared for defence — who 
seemed only to foresee defeat, and whose greatest anxiety 
throughout was to keep out of harm's way — a disposition, 
shared by many even of the military chieftains. The Balti- 
more division, a few of the militia, Barney's men and the 
marines, behaved with a distinguished gallantry, which 
.somewhat redeemed the disgrace of the day. 

Whilst the main body of the enemy was thus employed, 
one detachment plundered Alexandria. Another, under 
Sir Peter Parker, made an inroad upon the Eastern Shore, 
but with very different success. Two hundred militia had 
gathered at Bellair, under Colonel Reed, an officer of the 
revolution, and Sir Peter determined to surprise them. 
The British advance, however, found them fully on their 
guard, and were received with a heavy fire. Pressing 
towards the right, they attempted to gain the flank of the 
militia, but were again repulsed. Having exhausted his 
ammunition. Col. Reed fell back to obtain a fresh supply : 
but the enemy, crippled by their severe reception and 
having lost their leader, Sir Peter Parker, who was mortally 
wounded and died a few minutes after the action, aban- 
doned their expedition and retreated to their boats, leaving 



1814.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 339 

fourteen killed and twenty-seven wounded. The American 
loss was very small, only three men being wounded. 

Battle of Having thus triumphantly despoiled the capital 
North Point, ^f t}^g Union, Gen. Ross turned his eyes upon the 
flourishing and wealthy city of Baltimore. Anticipating 
his design, the governor had ordered the militia of the State 
to hold themselves in readiness, and large bodies were 
marched to the city for its defence. About seven hundred 
regulars, several volunteer and militia companies, from 
Pennsylvania and Virginia, increased their strength to 
about fifteen thousand men. They were commanded by 
Gen. Samuel Smith, who had distinguished himself in the 
revolution by his gallant defence of Fort Mifflin. One 
division of the army was confided to Gen. Winder, the 
other to Gen. Strieker. As soon as it was announced, that 
the British were approaching the city, the militia irritated 
by the disaster at Bladensburg and the sacking of Wash- 
ington, flocked in from all quarters, in such numbers, that 
neither arms, ammunition, nor provisions, could be supplied 
them, and the services of many were necessarily declined. 
As it was expected that the enemy would land and attack 
the town from the east, heavy batteries were erected on the 
high ofrounds in that direction, and an entrenchment thrown 
up in which the main body of the militia were posted. On 
the water side, the city was defended by Fort McHenry, 
garrisoned by a thousand men under Major Armistead ; two 
small batteries were erected on the south side ; while the 
channel was obstructed by a number of sunken vessels. 

On the 11th of September, 1814, the British fleet, num- 
bering fifty sail, entered the mouth of the Patapsco ; and 
on the twelfth, a force of five thousand men was landed 
at North Point, fourteen miles from Baltimore. General 
Strieker was ordered forward with three thousand two hun- 
dred men, to oppose their progress. His force was com- 
posed of the fifth regiment, under Col. Sterrett; the sixth, 



340 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1814. 

Col. McDonald ; the twenty-seventh, Lieut. Col. Long ; the 
thirty-ninth, Col. Fowler ; the fifty-first. Col. Amey ; one hun- 
dred and fifty riflemen, under Capt. Dyer; one hundred 
and forty cavalry, under Lieut. Col. Biays, and the Union 
artillery with six field pieces. In the regiments of this 
brigade, were incorporated Spangler's York, Metzgar's 
Hanover, Dixon's Marietta, and Quantril's Hagerstown uni- 
formed volunteers. He took a position about eight miles 
from the city, his right resting on Bear Creek and his left 
covered by a marsh : the fifth and twenty-seventh regi- 
ments formed the first line : the fifty-first, was posted three 
hundred yards in rear of the fifth, and the thirty-ninth in 
rear of the twenty-seventh : the sixth was held in reserve. 
The artillery, six four-pounders, was planted in the centre 
on the main road, and a corps of riflemen pushed in 
advance as skirmishers. The rifles soon fell in with the 
van of the enemy, and a sharp skirmish ensued, in which 
the British commander in chief, Gen. Ross, was killed. 
Col. Brooke, the second in command, still continued to 
advance, and, at half past three, the action commenced 
with the main body by a heavy cannonade. Gen. Strieker 
ordered his artillery to cease, until the enemy should gei 
within close cannister range ; and brought up the thirty- 
ninth on the left of the twenty-seventh, while the fifty-first 
was ordered to form at right angles with the line, resting its 
right near the left of the thirty-ninth. The fifty-first, in 
attempting to execute this order fell into confusion which 
however was soon remedied. The enemy now advanced 
upon the twenty-seventh and thirty-ninth; and the action 
became general. The fifty-first having imperfectly recovered 
from its confusion, failed to keep its ground ; and, having 
delivered a scattering fire, broke in disorder. Its retreat 
threw the second battahon of the thirty-ninth into some 
confusion : but the whole line, undismayed by the desertion 
of the fifty-first, maintained its ground with the greatest 



1914.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 341 

firmness, pouring in a destructive fire upon the advancing 
columns of the enemy. The artillery reopened with terrible 
effect upon their left, which was opposed to the fifth, whilst 
that gallant regiment proudly sustained the laurels it had 
won at Bladensburg. This close and hot fire was kept up, 
without intermission, for nearly an hour, in the face of a 
foe more than treble their numbers ; for the American line, 
reduced by the desertion of the fifty-first, and unaided by 
the sixth in reserve, numbered only fourteen hundred men. 
Their vollies were deadly, for they fired not only by order, 
but each man at his mark, and the front ranks of the enemy 
were frequently observed throwing themselves upon the 
ground to avoid its unerring destruction. 

Findinor that his force, uncovered on its left flank, was 
no longer able to make head against the superior strength 
of the enemy, and having accomplished the main object of 
his detachment by the severe check he had given them 
Gen. Strieker ordered his line to retire to the position 
of the sixth, his reserve regiment. This was accomplished 
in good order; but the fatigued condition of the troops, 
who had been in action, and the exposed position which 
he occupied, determined the general to fall back still nearer 
to the city. The enemy crippled by the severe contest did 
not attempt pursuit ; and the brigade, feeling that it had 
gathered the benefits of a victory, assumed its position near 
the lines, panting for another struggle with the invader. 
Although the American loss was heavy, it bore no com- 
parison to that of the enemy. Adjutant James Lowry 
Donaldson, a member of the legislature, fell in the hottest 
of the conflict. Lieut. Andre was killed—Capt. Quantril 
of Hagerstown, Capt. Stewart, Major Moore, Lieut. Reese, 
Joseph R. Brookes and Ensign Kirby, were wounded. 
Major Heath was wounded and had two horses killed under 
him. The American loss was twenty-four killed, one hun- 
dred and thirty-nine wounded, and fifty prisoners — a total 
29* 



342 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1814. 

of two hundred and thirteen. The loss of the enemy was 
nearly twice as great, and among their killed was their 
leader Gen. Ross, who, in conjunction with the notorious 
Cockburn, was the destroyer of the capital, and who haa 
boasted that he would take up his winter quarters in 
Baltimore. 

On the morning of the 13th of September, the British 
made their appearance within two miles of the entrench- 
ments, on the Philadelphia road, as if endeavoring to gain 
the flank of the American position ; but, baffled by the skil- 
ful manoeuvres of Gen. Smith, after throwing forward a 
reconnoisance and threatening the lines in front, they 
retired towards their former position, deterred from the 
attempt by the strength of the works. 

Havino^ thus failed to take the city by land, „ , , 

3 J J ^ Bombardmenl 

the enemy hoped that an attack by water would of Fort Mc- 
be more successful, and on the eveninor of the ^^^^' 
13th, the fleet began to bombard the fort, its main defence. 
The garrison was composed of three companies of United 
States' artillery, and three volunteer city companies, under 
Capt. Berry, Lieut. Pennington, and Capt. Nicholson, 
besides six hundred infantry ; in all about one thousand 
men under Col. Armistead. For a time the brave garrison, 
were compelled to receive the fire of the fleet in silence, 
anchored as it was two miles from the fort and beyond the 
reach of its guns. At length, however, some confusion 
being created in the south-west bastion by the bursting of 
a bomb, several vessels were brought within range to follow 
up the supposed advantage : but the batteries immediately 
opened upon them with such effect, that they were driven 
back to their former position. At this safe distance, they 
poured a continuous storm of shells upon the gallant de- 
fenders of the fort, who held their posts in stern silence, 
ready to repulse any nearer approach. During the night, 
several rocket vessels and barges, with fourteen hundred 



1814.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 343 

men, supplied with scaling ladders, passed silently by the- 
fort, and entered the Patapsco. Little dreaming of the 
resistance of the six and ten gun batteries, the foe already 
revelled, in anticipation, in the plunder of the captured city, 
when suddenly, as they drew opposite the six gun bat- 
tery, Lieut. Webster, its commander, opened upon them 
with terrible effect. The fort and the ten gun battery, 
also poured in their fire, and for two hours a furious can- 
nonade was kept up, while the heavens were lighted up 
with the fiery courses of the bombs from the fleet and 
barges. The havoc was dreadfiil. One of the barges was 
sunk, and the cries of the wounded and drowning, could 
be plainly heard upon the shore. The rest, in the utmost 
confusion, and having suffered a heavy loss, retreated pre- 
cipitately to the fleet. 

During that fearful night, Francis S. Key, a distinguished 
son of Maryland, was a prisoner in the British fleet. 
Having gone on board under the protection of a flag of 
truce, to effect the release of some captive friends, he was 
himself detained during the expedition. Of vivid and 
poetic temperament, he felt deeply the danger which their 
preparations foreboded, and the long and terrible hours 
which passed in sight of that conflict whose issue he could 
not know. It was under these circumstances that he com- 
posed " The Star Spangled Banner," descriptive of 
the scenes of that doubtful night, and of his own excited 
feelings. As the struggle ceases, upon the coming morn, 
uncertain of its result, his eye seeks for the flag of his 
country, and he asks in doubt : — 

" Oh ! say can you see by the dawn's early light, 

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming. 
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight 
O'er the rampart we watched, were so gallantly streaming? 
The rockets red glare — bombs bursting in air — 
Gave proof thro' the night, that our flag was still there. 
Oh, say does that star spangled banner still wave 
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave ?" 



344 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1814. 

And then, as through "the mists of the deep," dimly 
loomed that gorgeous banner fluttering in the first rays of 
the morning sun, he exclaims triumphantly — 

" 'Tis the Star Spangled Banner ! oh long may it wave 
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave." 

This outburst of the patriot and poet's heart, thrilled 
through the souls of his brethren ; they took it up : — it 
swelled from millions of voices: and the "Star Spangled 
Banner," written by a son of Maryland, within sight of 
the battle fields won by the citizen soldiers of Maryland — 
with the sound of their victorious cannon still ringing in 
his ears — became the proud national anthem of the whole 
Union. 

Thus baflled by land and water. Admiral Cockburn and 
Col. Brooke determined to abandon the expedition ; the 
troops were embarked on the 15th, and, on the 16th, the 
hostile fleet dropped down the Chesapeake, leaving the 
liberated city filled with joy at her triumphant preservation, 
mingled with sorrow for the gallant sons who had died to 
defend her. 

Admiral Cockburn continued his exploits on the bay 
shore, burning and destroying the property of the de- 
fenceless citizens for some time longer, and threatening the 
towns on the coast; but he at length withdrew. The gallant 
defence of Baltimore saved the other Atlantic cities from 
attack, — its successful termination raised the spirits of the 
people, and renewed their confidence in themselves, 
proving that, when led by brave and skilful officers, they 
need not dread to encounter any equal force of their 
veteran enemy. 



CHAPTER XVIIT. 

FROM THE PEACE OF 1815, TO THE YEAR 1848. 

JiiARLY in the ensuing year, the war was closed by an 
honorable peace, signed at Ghent on the 24th of December, 
1814, and ratified by the United States, on 17th of February, 
1815; and Maryland once more turned all its energies to 
the great work of fostering its own growth, and increasing 
its strength and resources. It is not surprising, when the 
situation of Baltimore, her commercial advantages and the 
enterprise of her citizens, are considered, that the most 
rapid and considerable increase in the population and wealth 
of the State, took place within her limits: and, at no period 
did she stride forward so rapidly as during those great Euro- 
pean wars, when commerce was thrown principally in the 
hands of Americans. Thus, in 1790, her population was only 
thirteen thousand — in ten years it had doubled itself, and 
in ten years more almost quadrupled itself. Never perhaps 
was there so unexampled a growth, continued for so long a 
term. If from that latter period, 1810, her prosperity, was 
checked for a time by the political difficulties of the nation 
and the war which ensued ; upon the return of peace, she 
again rose up with renewed life like the great heart of 
Maryland, throbbing and swelling with the vigorous tide of 
prosperity, which she was sending forth and receiving back 
by a thousand arteries. The pulsations of her daily life 
w^ere felt to the remotest quarters of the State : when wealth 
poured into her lap, its golden streams penetrated into 
every portion of the interior, and when difficulty or distress 
came upon her, the vibrations of the shock reached even to 

the westernmost limits of Maryland. She became and 
345 



346 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1807-36. 

continued the index of State prosperity, and its centre ; and 
as well might the counties hope to flourish, when she is 
hemmed in and pressed down, as the members of the body 
live when the heart has ceased to beat. Fully awake to this 
truth, the people of the State joined with the city, in her 
efforts to open every avenue to the interior, and to make 
Baltimore the great outlet and seaport of the mighty west ; 
a result destined to be accomplished in time to come in 
spite of every difficulty and against every opposition. 

But the rapid growth of Baltimore and the in- Reform, 
creasing strength and population of the western counties, 
whose inhabitants had frequently declared their opposition 
to certain features of the constitution, at length brought the 
question of its reform into greater prominence, and made it 
the engrossing topic of discussion and the great object of 
political movement. By the system of that day, the senate, 
the governor and council, and the majority of the legislature 
Itself, could be elected by a minority of the people. As 
the legislature was composed of four members from each 
county, and two from the cities of Baltimore and Annapolis, 
the smaller and less populous counties had as much influ- 
ence in that body, as the larger ; so that ten counties, with 
perhaps little over one-third of the population of the State, 
could cast a majority of votes. The same held good in 
regard to the senate, which was chosen by a body of elec- 
tors of two from each county : and as the governor and 
council were selected by the two houses by joint ballot, the 
influence of the ten smaller counties if brouo^ht to bear 
could overpower that of the larger. It was thus a confed- 
eration of counties, each with the same voice, in the 
assembly, without regard to population or wealth. This 
disparity had existed from the very adoption of the constitu- 
tion, but had increased with the rapid growth of Baltimore 
and the west, and the diminution of the smaller counties. 
The mode of electing the senate was particularly objected to 



1807-36.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 347 

by those who desired a change. As early as 1807, a strong 
effort was made to effect an alteration in the system, by 
making that body consist of one member from each county 
to be elected by the people ; and in the bill which passed 
the house for that purpose, an attempt was made to engraft 
a provision, regulating the number of delegates for each 
county in proportion to its population. The measure how- 
ever was opposed by the senate, and the house ordered the 
rejected bill to be published in the votes and proceedings for 
the information of the people.* A similar bill met with a 
like fate, in the ensuing year, and the struggle seems to 
have been absorbed by the more exciting questions, which 
occupied the public mind, prior to the breaking out of hos- 
tilities with England. 

No sooner was peace declared, however, than the old 
disputes began to awaken. Complaints arose from all quar- 
ters against the inequality of the system, under which the 
State was governed. The dissatisfaction extended to other 
features besides the organization of the house and senate. 
The mode of electing the governor, the tenure of many 
offices, particularly those of the county clerks and registers 
of wills, — profitable offices held during good behaviour, in 
effect for life — became the subject of strenuous opposition. 
For years, however, every effort failed: both of the political 
parties in the reform counties, had in vain united together 
to secure their object; the discordant elements of the ill 
assorted alliance soon broke asunder. At length, hopeless 
of obtaining any practical result, when thus disunited, it 
was proposed that a convention of reformers without dis- 
tinction of party should be held in Baltimore, to agree upon 
such measures as would ensure success : and, on the 6th 
of June, 1836, delegates, from Cecil, Harford, Baltimore, 
Frederick, Montgomery and Washington counties, and 
Baltimore city, assembled, and adopted resolutions advising 
* Votes and Proceedings, 1807-8, 



348 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1836. 

the people to elect delegates at the ensuing election, pledged 
to introduce into the legislature a bill to take the sense of 
the people, upon the amendment of the constitution ; and 
providing for the calling of a convention, for that purpose, 
in case a majority of the popular vote demanded it. They 
further proposed that the time for electing the delegates to 
this convention should be fixed by the bill, on the first Mon- 
day in June, 1837, and that they should assemble on the 4th 
of July, and prepare a constitution to be submitted to the 
people, for their approbation at the October election fol- 
lowing : and they empowered their president to re-assemble 
their body, if the legislature failed to act upon the subject 
within forty days, " to take such ulterior measures, as might 
be then deemed expedient, just, proper, and best calcu- 
lated, without the aid of the legislature, to ensure the accom- 
plishment of the desired results."* The preceding assembly 
had passed laws which tended to enlarge the representa- 
tion of the more populous districts, and which only needed 
the confirmation of the succeeding legislature, to become 
effectual. Two additional delegates were by these mea- 
sures given to Baltimore city ; and the new county of Carroll 
was erected out of portions of Frederick and Baltimore, thus 
securing four more representatives to the people formerly 
embraced in those two counties. But this item of inci- 
dental reform, only made the reformers more urgent in their 
demands ; and the people seemed disposed to sustain fully 
the recommendations of the convention. 

But these movements suddenly took a most unexpected 
turn. The term of the old senate of Maryland was about 
to expire ; and the time had arrived to elect a college of 
senatorial electors, to form a new one ; and upon the close 
of the election it was ascertained, that although a majority 
of reformers had been selected, thus securing a reform 
senate, twenty-one whig and nineteen democratic senatorial 
* Brief Outline, &c. of the Nineteen Van Buren Electors. 



1836.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 349 

electors had been chosen.* On the third Monday of Sep- 
tember, according to the requirements of the constitution, 
the electors gathered at Annapolis. Only twenty-one, 
however, qualified by taking their official oath, and as the 
constitution required the presence of at least twenty-four 
members to complete the organization of the college, no- 
thing could be done. The nineteen democratic electors 
having met together in caucus, determined, in accordance 
with instructions from several primary meetings, to secure 
a majority of the senate " of a similar complexion with the 
people electing them, and entertaining the same opinions 
and sentiments," that as they represented counties, which 
contained a large majority of voters, it was right that they, 
although a minority in the electoral college, should have 
the nomination of eight members, being a majority of the 
senate. Accordingly they addressed a note to the twenty- 
one electors, proposing that eight gentlemen whom they 
would name, should be chosen as senators. This was re- 
fused, and for several days, they persevered in their determi- 
nation to take no part in the election of a senate. 

The twenty-one electors continued to meet daily at An- 
napolis, in the hope of organizing, and were at length 
joined by one of the nineteen, who qualified and took his 
seat. His example was soon followed by six others ; the 
electoral college was organized, and a senate chosen. 

The senate which was elected, was a reform senate ; — 
the lower house had been in favor of reform for several 
years, and no difficulty was now thrown in the way of the 
desired amendments. 

When the legislature assembled they immedi- Reform of tiie 

_ Gove-nor and 

ately entered upon the work of reform. The re- senate, 
suit of their deliberations was the adoption of most of 
the amendments contemplated by the reform movement. 
The election of governor was given to the people ; his 
• Brief Outline, &c., of the Nineteen Van Buren Electors. 
30 



350 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1836-7. 

term of office was fixed at three years, and the State was 
divided into three gubernatorial districts, from each of which 
in turn he was required to be taken. The Eastern Shore 
counties composed the first district. Frederick, Carroll, 
Harford, Baltimore, Washington, and Alleghany counties 
the second district, and the remaining counties with the 
city of Baltimore the third district. The council was abol- 
ished and a secretary of State provided to supply the place 
of the clerk of the council. The Senate was entirely re- 
organized, on the plan proposed in 1807: one member 
was assigned to each county and to the city of Baltimore, 
to be elected immediately by the people. The first elec- 
tion was to be held at the October elections of 1838, 
and in order that there might be a periodical change in that 
body, the senators first elected were to be divided into 
classes, by lot, who were to serve two, four, or six years. 
Upon the expiration of the different classes, their places 
were to be supplied by new elections, in their respective 
counties ; and the term of their successors was fixed at six 
years. So that, always thereafter, at each period of two 
years, one-third of the whole body would be elected by 
the people, thus securing permanency in policy and a 
frequent accountability to their constituents. The qualifi- 
cation of a senator, was the same as that of a delegate, 
except that he should have arrived at the age of twenty-five 
years, and been a resident for three years of the county, or 
city, for which he was elected. 
House of T^^^ constitution of the house of delegates, was 
Delegates, jjiaterially altered. Five members were assigned 
to Baltimore city, Frederick and Baltimore counties, each ; 
four for Anne Arundel, Dorchester, Somerset, Worcester, 
Prince George's, Harford, Montgomery, Carroll, and Wash- 
ington, each ; three for each of the remaining counties, and 
one for Annapolis city. This arrangement was only to 
endure until after the official promulgation of the next 



1S36.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 351 

census of 1840; when, and also at every second census 
thereafter, the number of delegates was to be apportioned 
on the following basis: every county with a population 
less than fifteen thousand, in federal numbers, should elect 
three delegates ; every county with a population of fifteen 
thousand, and less than twenty-five thousand, four dele- 
gates ; every county, with a population of twenty-five 
thousand, and less than thirty-five thousand, five delegates ; 
every county, having a population over thirty-five thousand 
souls, six delegates ; and Baltimore city, as many delegates 
as the most populous county. After the year 1840, the 
city of Annapolis was no longer to have a separate repre- 
sentation, in the house, but to be considered as part of 
Anne Arundel. 

The term of service of the county clerks and derks and 
registers of wills, was reduced to seven years, i^^gisters. 
and their appointment conferred upon the governor, by and 
with the advice and consent of the senate. These altera- 
tions were all confirmed at the ensuing session of the 
legislature and became portions of the constitution. 

The weight of taxation which was brought on by the 
efl'orts to pay the interest on the public debt, at a subse- 
quent period, again awoke a desire for some economical 
reform, to retrench the expenses of the government, and 
with this view the legislatures of 1845 and 1846, passed 
and confirmed a bill to make the sessions of the general 
assembly biennial instead of annual. They further reduced 
the salary of the governor from forty-two hundred to two 
thousand dollars. 

Slavery and ^" ^^^ contest for a reform of the constitution, 
the Blacks. -^^ IS36, another question of an exciting character 
had mingled. It was feared by many that a convention, if 
assembled, miorht touch the relation of master and slave, 
and those interested in the matter, took care to have an 
additional guard thrown around their rights. 



352 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1836. 

A provision was engrafted upon the constitution, de- 
claring '' that the relation of master and slave in this State 
shall not be abolished unless a bill for that purpose shall 
be passed by an unanimous vote of both branches of the 
general assembly, be published three months before a new 
election, and be unanimously confirmed by the succeeding 
legislature." Even then it was required that full compen- 
sation should be made to the master for the property of 
which he would be thereby deprived. 

Even at the close of the revolution, the feelings of 
many of those, who had just emerged from the contest for 
liberty, were awakened in behalf of the negro slaves 
Efforts were made by some to secure the gradual abolition 
of slavery, by others to raise the character of the free blacks. 
Memorials were even presented to the legislature on the 
subject of abolition— but the society framed for that purpose 
was compelled to desist from its proceedings, and was dis- 
solved.* But whilst every one considered the abolition of 
slavery as impossible, or at least impolitic, its existence was 
looked upon by many as an evil to be gradually removed. 
The legislature in 1805, and subsequently, expressed their 
decided hostility to the continuation of the African slave 
trade, and instructed their delegates, in congress, to pro- 
pose or vote for an amendment to the constitution of the 
United States, for its immediate suppression, and a prohi- 
bition of the importation of slaves from the West Indies or 
any other foreign country. 

By the existing clauses of the constitution of the United 
States, congress would in 1808, have had the power of com- 
plete legislation upon this subject. The proposition for an 
immediate change originated with Massachusetts and North 
Carolina : it was favorably received by Maryland, and wa? 
adopted by the house of delegates by a vote of forty-two tc 
four, and in the senate without opposition.! 

* Griffith's Annals ; Votes and Proceedings, General Assembly. 

t Votes and Proceedings 1805, p. 118. 



1836.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 353 

This favorable tendency of public opinion continued un- 
diminished for many years, and its effect was perceived in 
the gradual decrease of the number of slaves and the in- 
crease of free blacks, by private and voluntary emancipa- 
tion. In 1790 the number of slaves in Maryland was 
103,036: they had increased in 1810 to 111,502, but con- 
tinued, under the effect of the tendency already spoken of, 
to diminish year by year, until in 1840 they were reduced 
to 89,619. The free blacks on the contrary have consider- 
ably increased ; showing the extent to which this gradual 
emancipation has been carried. In 1790, they numbered 
only 8,043; in 1810, they had increased to 33,469; and in 
1840, to 61,938 — thus threatening to equal if not out num- 
ber the slave population. 

But this very result was deprecated from the outset ; for 
many inconveniences were foreseen by the legislature from 
the existence in their midst of so large a body of men, 
destitute of political rights, in a degraded condition, and yet 
without proper subjective restraints. It was then deemed 
prudent to throw some restrictions in the way of manu- 
mission. 

The wiser and more humane friends of the Liberia, 
negro, had early embarked in a truly noble and beneficent 
design — the American Colonization Society. Satisfied that 
the black man, could never mingle as an equal with the 
white race, they proposed to establish colonies on the 
western coast of Africa, and to settle, there, those of the 
free and emancipated blacks who should be willing to 
return to the land of their forefathers. A branch of this 
association was immediately formed in Maryland, as pecu- 
liarly suited to the views and necessities of the people. 
The association, however, was entirely subject to the Na- 
tional Society ; and it was soon found to be too much 
under the control, or at least liable to the vexatious inter- 
ference, of the northern abolitionists. It was, therefore, 
30" X X 



354 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1317. 

determined to establish an independent organization in the 
State, and plant a separate colony under the name of 
" Maryland," in Liberia. This design, with a praiseworthy 
perseverance, was accordingly carried into effect. As it 
was not only founded upon enlarged philanthropic views, 
but upon sound policy, in the condition of the State, with 
its large free black population, an appeal was made to the 
legislature, for assistance. It was generously afforded. An 
annual appropriation of twenty thousand dollars, to be 
raised by taxation, was bestowed upon the society, and 
never withheld or diminished in the darkest hours of pecu- 
niary embarrassment ; and three commissioners were ap- 
pointed on behalf of the State to take part in its affairs. In 
spite of the opposition of the abolitionists, its bitterest ene- 
mies, the society continued to flourish ; emigrants were 
yearly sent out to Cape Palmas ; and the ]\Iaryland colony is 
now one of the most prosperous on the western shore of 
Africa, having a considerable trade, and being visited peri- 
odically by a regular packet from Baltimore. 

The wisdom and good policy of fostering this noble 
scheme, is evident from a single glance at the statistics of 
the African race in Maryland, and the necessary result of 
the present system of manumission. Their increase is 
exceedingly small — scarcely more than sufficient to supply 
the loss by deaths and transportation of slaves to the south. 
Thus in 1810, they numbered, free and slave, 144,971; in 
1840, 151,657 — so that in a period of thirty years their 
aggregate increase was only 6,686 : and while there was an 
actual diminution in the number of slaves in that period of 
21,783, there was a positive increase of free blacks of 
28,469. In the same period the increase of the white pop- 
ulation was 82,000. The diminution of the slaves, and the 
large increment of the free negroes over the actual growth 
of the whole black population, testify in part to the rapidity 
of the manumission, which is going on throughout the 



1310-40.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 355 

State by the voluntary act of the slaveholdeps. As these 
results continue, the number of free blacks increase — a race 
little productive to the State, weakening its military strength, 
depreciating its political position by their bare presence, 
and in time of war ready to become a source of domestic 
insecurity, through the intrigues of an enemy. It is there- 
fore not only humanity, but good and sound policy, which 
has presided over this excellent institution, the Maryland 
State Colonization Society. 

Public While the people of the State were occupied 

Schools, ^-^.j^ ^Y\e struggle for the reform of the consti- 
tution, and with the condition of the black race in the State, 
they were not unmindful of the interests of education. It 
nad been the early pride of Maryland that its metropolis, 
the ancient city of Annapolis, in colonial days had won the 
title of "the Athens of America," and the people had long 
turned their attention to the fostering of education. But 
the provisions made in those times, became, as the popu- 
lation increased, entirely insufficient, and schools and 
colleges were erected, and assisted by public and private 
munificence. At length in 1812, upon the application of 
certain banks for a renewal of their charters, the legislature, 
deeming it a fit occasion to raise a permanent fund for the 
public schools, annexed to the act of extension, a condi- 
tion that these corporations should pay annually to the 
State treasurer, during the continuance of their charters, the 
gross sum of twenty thousand dollars, apportioned among 
them according to their capital.* This sum was directed 
to be equally divided among the several counties of the 
State ; and in 1816, nine " commissioners of the school 
fund," were appointed for each county, to superintend the 
application of the money.! 

The system, adopted at that time, was subsequently much 

* Acts of Assembly, 1812. f Ibid. 1816 ; 1825 

31 Y y 



356 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1816-25. 

altered by local legislation, and was finally superseded by 
the formation of the primary school organization in 1825. 
This organization was much more enlarged : a superinten- 
dent of public instruction was directed to be appointed by 
the governor, while the levy courts of the respective coun- 
ties annually selected nine commissioners of public schools, 
together with a number of other persons, not exceeding 
eighteen, to be inspectors. The commissioners were em- 
powered to lay off, alter or regulate the school districts ; to 
receive the money apportioned to the county, and divide it 
among the districts ; to hold property as a body corporate 
for the use of the primary schools; and, with the inspectors, 
to examine and qualify all applicants for the office of 
teacher. The taxable inhabitants were directed to assemble 
in their respective districts to choose a district clerk, and to 
elect three trustees, who were to build and keep in repair 
school-houses, employ duly qualified teachers, and pay their 
salaries out of the money placed in their hands by the com- 
missioners. They were required to report semi-annually to 
the commissioners, who in turn reported annually to the 
county clerk the condition of the schools. It was made 
the duty of the inspectors to visit the several schools quar- 
terly at least, and examine into the proficiency of the scho- 
lars and the good order and regularity of the schools. The 
powers exercised by the levy courts in the counties, were 
vested in the mayor and council of Baltimore, for the regu- 
lation of the primary schools of the city. Finally, the law 
erecting this extensive system was to be submitted to the 
people, and was only to be in force in those counties where 
a majority of votes were cast in its favor at the ensuing 
election. The revenues assigned for the purpose were to 
be divided amongst the counties and the city of Baltimore, 
in proportion to their white population. 

This general system was soon adopted in several couii- 



1849.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 357 

ties ; but the particular wants of the different sections of 
the State induced much local legislation upon the subject, 
altering and modifying many features of the original orga- 
nization. When the public debt of the United States was 
finally paid off, congress determined to distribute the 
surplus revenue among the States. Maryland invested 
more than $600,000 of the amount which she received, for 
the benefit of the schools, the interest of which, with the 
former funds and new contributions from the banks, raised 
the annual fund distributed from the State treasury to 
$65,631 81. This system gradually went into general 
operation, and its good results are every where perceived, 
in the improving intelligence of the people. 

The public schools of Baltimore, were formed pubnc schools 
upon a system peculiar to that city, and brought ^^ Baltimore, 
to a high state of usefulness by the unremitting zeal of the 
gentlemen, who, without other compensation than that of 
the pleasure of conferring benefits on their fellows, have 
devoted their time to the laborious duties of commissioners 
of the schools. The legislature, in the establishment of the 
general system throughout the State, had conferred upon 
the mayor and city council of Baltimore, authority to estab- 
lish public schools in the city, and to levy a tax for their 
support. The city authorities placed this power in the 
hands of commissioners, one of whom was selected from 
each ward. The schools were at first established on a plan 
similar to that adopted in the counties, and were made free 
of charge. This system was, at length, found inefficient : 
at the end of ten or twelve years, not more than six hun- 
dred pupils attended these schools, and it was found neces- 
sary to devise some method to increase their usefulness. 
A small charge was levied upon each scholar who could 
apbrd to pay it, amounting to one dollar per quarter: the 
charge met the approval of the public, and the schools soon 



358 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1849. 

became thronged. Seven thousand pupils now attend the 
public schools of Baltimore. 

Besides the primary and grammar schools, high schools 
were opened, into which the scholars who had passed 
through the primary and grammar schools were entered. 
They consist of a central high school for boys, and two 
high schools for girls, into which the most promising pupils 
of the grammar schools are promoted, as a reward for their 
diligence, and to enable them to acquire a more finished 
education. The studies pursued in the male grammar 
schools are reading, writing, geography, grammar, history, 
the elements of natural philosophy and physiology, arith- 
metic, algebra, mensuration, astronomy, with the use of the 
globes, book-keeping, and vocal music : in the female 
grammar schools the same branches are taught, except al- 
gebra and mensuration. In the male central high school, 
the studies are, grammar, ancient geography, rhetoric, logic, 
natural, moral, mental and political science, physiology, 
botany, the higher branches of mathematics, book-keeping, 
ancient and modern languages, writing, drawing, and vocal 
music ; the same branches are taught in the female high 
schools, except some of the higher branches of mathe- 
matics, and ancient and modern languages. In the female 
high schools, nearly five hundred young ladies are educated. 
About one-half their teachers are females, who have also 
been employed to great advantage in the instruction of boys 
in the early part of their education. The salaries paid to 
teachers, male and female, are liberal, and thus the best 
talent is secured for these important posts. And it is a fact 
worthy of notice, that these teachers have been in a great 
measure, trained in the city high schools. The cost of this 
system is upwards of sixty thousand dollars a year, nearly 
one-third of which is raised by the tuition fees, the balance 
by taxation. Besides the twenty public schools under the 
direction of the school commissioners, there are in Balti- 



1784-1844.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 359 

more several colleges and academies of high rank, and two 
or three hundred private schools.* 

In colonial times, no colleges had been estab- Colleges. 
Fished in Maryland ; for the sons of the wealthy who would 
have aided materially in their support, were generally sent 
to England to receive an education. At the close of the 
revolution, an effort was made to establish colleges in 
Maryland, where the youth of the State might pursue the 
higher branches of education, and at the same time be 
imbued with the principles of patriotism and the love of 
liberty. Washington College at Chestertown and St. John's 
College at Annapolis, were the first erected, and they re- 
ceived large assistance from the State. They had been 
incorporated into one university, but were again divided, 
and the appropriation from the State treasury at length 
withdrawn, to be applied to educational purposes through- 
out the State. 

This measure for a time checked the prosperity of St. 
John's College, and caused the temporary suspension of 
Washington College. Other institutions were now to be 
founded by private enterprise. 

Shortly after the foundation of St. John's College at 
Annapolis, Dr. John Carroll, the Catholic bishop of Balti- 
more, determined to establish an academy for the prepara- 
tion of young men for the priesthood, and for the education 
of boys. He selected Georgetown as the site of his school, 
and commenced it in 1789. When the seat of the general 
government was removed to Washington, he perceived the 
many advantages which it presented for a great university, 
and resolved to enlarge his design. The institution was 
incorporated in 1799, and raised to the rank of an uni-^ 
versity in 1815, by an act of congress. 

* Speeches of the Rev. J. N. M'Jilton, treasurer, and Dr. Monmo- 
nier, president, of the board of school commissioners, Baltimore, at the 
Philadelphia public school convention, October, 1849. 



360 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1784-1844. 

Somewhat similar was the origin of St. Mary's College, 
Baltimore. In 1791, an ecclesiastical seminary was estab- 
lished there by Rev. Mr. Nagot, under the superintendence 
of Bishop Carroll ; in 1799, an academy for boys was 
erected adjoining it. It flourished rapidly ; and, in 1805, 
was raised by an act ©f the legislature to the rank of an 
university. 

In 1785, the Methodists had established a college at 
Abington in Harford county, which, in 1798, was destroyed 
by fire. In the ensuing year, they purchased a building at 
Baltimore, in order to recommence their institution. The 
new academy, in the same year, met with the same fate ; 
and the enterprise was abandoned. 

Mt. St. Mary's College was founded by the Hev. John 
Dubois, who had fled from the terrors of the French revo- 
lution. He commenced a small school, in a log cabin, at 
the foot of the Catoctin mountains, near the village of 
Emmittsburg. In 1810, his academy numbered forty scho- 
lars. After years of toil, in 1824 he succeeded in erecting 
a large college residence, which was burned to the ground 
almost on the very day of its completion. Undisheartened, 
he renewed his labors. Success at length crowned his 
effort ; and the college was chartered in the year 1830, by 
the legislature of Maryland. 

Anxious to secure institutions in which the youth of 
their denomination might be educated, the convention of 
the Episcopal Church in Maryland, (1836-7,) urged the 
formation of academies which should be under their own 
control. In 1841, the Rev. Mr. Lyman of Hagerstown, 
succeeded in purchasing a suitable building at Fountain 
Rock, in Washington county, and a school was soon after 
opened. It was placed under the superintendence of the 
Rev. Mr. Kerfoot, and, in 1844, was chartered by the legis- 
lature under the title of " the College of St. James." 



1847.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 361 

St. John's Literary Institution at Frederick, in which the 
usual collegiate course of studies is pursued, was founded 
by the Rev. John McElroy, and incorporated in 1842. It 
was raised to the rank of a college, with the power of 
conferring degrees, by the legislature in 1850. Besides 
these, there are many academies of a high order through- 
out the State, on which no collegiate powers have been 
conferred. 

No State, perhaps, possesses so many and so efficient 
institutions for the education of females, as Maryland. 
For it has always been the desire of the people to extend 
education to all classes — and the proper education of the 
mothers is the surest method of securing the enlighten- 
ment of the rising generations. 

p ^j. But that which perhaps more than all occupied 

provemenia-- the attention of the people, was the system of 
internal improvements which had been under- 
taken to secure the prosperity of the State. The immense 
mineral resources of western Maryland, the rich mines of 
iron ore, and the inexhaustible supply of coal which its moun- 
tains contained, made it a matter of peculiar importance 
to Maryland that the designs of the Potomac Company 
should be completed, irrespective of the growing trade 
of the west. A water communication into the heart 
of the mineral region, affording the cheapest means of 
transportation of such heavy articles, was almost absolutely 
necessary to develope fully its immense wealth and pour it 
into the markets of the Atlantic. But it was found in pro- 
gress of time, after repeated efforts, that the mode of navi- 
gation proposed by the Potomac Company was insufficient 
and unworthy of the great object in view — the securing the 
trade of the west; and another and nobler work was con- 
templated. It was proposed that the Potomac Company 
should surrender its privileges to a new corporation, to be 
formed for the purpose of making a canal along the river to* 



362 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1823-4. 

its head, and thence to the waters of the Ohio. The legis- 
lature of Maryland ajjproved of the design, and a conven. 
tion was called at the city of Washington, of delegates to 
be chosen by the people of the different counties of Virgi- 
nia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, to consider the best means 
of effecting so desirable an object. Delegates from fourteen 
counties in Virginia, one in Pennsylvania, and eight in 
Maryland, besides a full representation from each of the 
District cities, attended on the 6th of November, 1823. It 
was resolved that a company should be formed to construct 
a navigable canal, by Cumberland to the coal banks on the 
eastern side of the Alleghanies, and thence, as soon as 
practicable, to the highest point of navigation on the Ohio, 
or Monongahela : and, as it was contemplated to be finished 
by the joint efforts of the United States' government, Mary- 
land, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the subscriptions of pri- 
vate stockholders, it was proposed to designate it as •' the 
Union Canal," but its present name, the Chesapeake and 
Ohio Canal, was finally adopted. During the sessions of 
the convention, a communication was presented from two 
delegates from Ohio, proposing a further extension of the 
work by a canal from the Ohio through that State to the 
great lakes on the north ; which portion of the design was 
finally accomplished by that State unaided. 

In conformity with the recommendations of this body, an 
act was passed by Virginia on the 27th of January, 1824, 
and subsequently confirmed by Maryland, Pennsylvania, 
and the United States, to incorporate the Chesapeake 
and Ohio Canal Company.* Maryland, wisely looking 
to the interest of its commercial metropolis, claimed and 
obtained the right of constructing, through any portion of 
the District of Columbia, a lateral canal, to terminate at 
the city of Baltimore. It further insisted upon the power, 
and maintained the expediency of the general government's 
* Canal records and proceedings, acts, Stc. 



1827-8.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 365 

fostering this great national work and aiding in its comple- 
tion. It authorized the State treasurer in its name to sub- 
scribe five thousand shares of stock at one hundred dollars 
per share, on certain conditions. 

The necessary legislation having thus been effected, a 
second convention assembled at Washington, composed of 
numerous delegates from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and 
Virginia, and approved of the charter thus tendered to them : 
the books were opened by the commissioners appointed for 
that purpose ; and, the requisite amount of stock having 
been taken, the stockholders, in June, 1828, organized and 
formally accepted the charter. The United States sub- 
scribed for ten thousand shares of stock, and congress au- 
thorized the District cities to become stockholders. They 
accordingly took an aggregate of fifteen thousand shares. 
The amount of the subscription of Virginia was only seven 
hundred and seventy-seven shares. These subscriptions, 
together with the stock taken by individuals, brought the 
sum total to thirty-six thousand and eighty-nine shares, 
being a capital of $3,608,900. > It had been sanguinely 
estimated that the whole work could be completed to Cum- 
berland on the scale at first contemplated — forty feet wide 
at top, twenty-eight feet at bottom, and four feet deep, for 
$4,400,000. The dimensions however were afterwards in- 
creased, at the suggestion of the United States' government, 
to six feet in depth, and in width, ranging from sixty to 
fifty feet. The route was immediately selected and the 
work commenced. 

While these measures were in progress, the Baiumorfi & 
people of Baltimore began to entertain fears that o^^io i^- ^oad. 
the work would interfere with their prosperity, and build up 
the District cities, at their expense. They doubted the fea- 
sibility of constructing the lateral canal; and a rail road to 
the waters of the Ohio, was determined upon. In February, 
1827, a public meeting was called in the city, and a memorial 



364 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1827-40. 

preferred, at once, to the legislature. It was asserted, that 
the route of the rail road was the only practicable one, that 
it was shorter by one hundred and forty miles than that by 
the canal, and that it could be opened at an expense less 
by seven millions of dollars. In ten days after the applica- 
tion, a charter was granted by the legislature. 

It was soon found that the best site for the passage of 
the road through the range of the Catoctin, was by the 
banks of the Potomac, already surveyed for the location of 
the canal, and scarcely of sufficient width for the construc- 
tion of both works, between the mountains and the river 
on the Maryland side ; and the Rail Road Company in ad- 
vance procured the condemnation of the lands in that 
vicinity, by the means designated in their charter, to secure 
this important point. The surveys and other proceedings 
were taken with such rapidity, that they were completed 
before the Canal Company could procure and serve upon 
their agents a writ of injunction. A legal contest ensued, 
which resulted in the success of the Canal Company : but 
a compromise was afterwards effected, by which the Rail 
Road Company were allowed to pass along on aline parallel 
with the canal to Harper's Ferry, at which point it crossed 
the river to the Virginia side. Several years elapsed before 
the settlement of this vexatious dispute, which considerably 
retarded the progress of the two works. To bestow an 
equal encouragement on the rail road, the State subscribed 
for five thousand shares of its stock, and authorized the city 
of Baltimore to subscribe for thirty thousand shares. 

The spirit of improvement had now seized upon the peo- 
ple, and in every quarter new designs were formed. A 
rail road was projected from Baltimore to York, and a com- 
pany incorporated for its construction, under the name of 
the " Baltimore and Susquehanna Rail Road." A branch of 
the Baltimore and Ohio road was turned tov/ards Washing- 
ton, a work which has proved very profitable to the State. 



1830-4S.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 365 

With it was connected a lateral road to Annapolis. Large 
schemes for draining, improving, and canaling on the 
Eastern Shore were entertained ; and on the Western, the 
rendering the Monocacy navigable, a lateral canal to Balti- 
more, and another to Annapolis, were dreamed of as things 
soon to be accomphshed. Several of these schemes were 
never undertaken : — but to those that were commenced, the 
State subscribed largely, and the consequence was soon 
felt in a heavy public debt. 

It was at length found that to complete these Public Debt, 
great designs, further appropriations would become neces- 
sary, and large additional issues of State bonds were made 
by the authority of the legislature, until the public debt 
reached the enormous sum of more than sixteen millions 
of dollars. As long as the companies to which these 
bonds had been granted, continued to pay the interest upon 
them, they did not become a burden upon the State : in 
1840, however, some of them failed to meet these demands, 
and the State was called upon to discharge the interest 
falling due. The startling announcement was then made, 
that, on the first of December, 1840, there would be a 
deficit in the treasury of nearly six hundred thousand dol- 
lars — an amount almost twice as great as the whole reve- 
nue of the State. 

To make good the deficiency, it was resolved, after much 
discussion and opposition, that a direct tax should be levied 
on the assessable property of the people. For a time, all 
efforts to raise the desired amount failed, and in some 
sections, the people refused to pay their taxes. In 1844, 
however, a better feeling was evinced, and the credit of 
the State was restored by the efficient measures recom- 
mended by Governor Pratt, which ensured the payment of 
the interest on the public debt. But it was not until the 
year 1848, that the State was able to meet her engafrements 
fully and punctually. Since that period she has not only 



366 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1847-8. 

promptly paid the accruing interest of the debt, but has 
continued to reduce that debt by the purchase of outstand- 
ing bonds — a system commenced several years before, and 
whose successful operation gives an assurance of a speedy 
extinction of the public burdens. 

At the same time that these active steps were taken to 
preserve the faith of the State, the two great public works 
seemed to recover their energies. The Chesapeake and 
Ohio Canal, whose completion had been almost abandoned, 
although it had reached within fifty miles of Cumberland, 
the point where the coal and iron trade was expected to 
commence, was now once more pressed forward under the 
able management of Mr. Coale, the president of the com- 
pany ; and after encountering many difficulties, the work 
was again set in motion, in November, 1847. The Balti- 
more and Ohio Rail Road had already been completed to 
Cumberland, and Mr. McLane, the president of the com- 
pany, about the same period, in order to extend that great 
work to the Ohio, caused the surveys of the route to be 
made; and a large portion of the line was put under con- 
tract in 1848, under his successor, Mr. Swann. 

The natural wealth of the soil of Maryland, its Agriculture, 
great fertility with little cultivation, had induced an evil 
system of husbandry which was productive of the worst 
results. The author of a " Relation of Maryland," pub- 
lished shortly after the settlement of the colony, says that 
** the soil was generally rich, and in many places two feet of 
black rich mould with scarcely a stone, under which there 
was a good loam ; whilst there was much ground fit for 
meadows and plenty of marl, both blue and white." Tobacco 
and corn formed the staple agricultural produce ; and these 
two crops were raised alternately without a due regard to 
the preservation of the fertility of the soil by a judicious 
system of cultivation. The consequence was that the rich- 
est lands in time became impoverished, and those of less 



1840-48.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



sev 



strength entirely barren and unproductive. Wide tracts of 
" old fields " were thrown out into common as their enclo- 
sures fell into decay, leaving a melancholy line of sickly 
verdure marking where the slovenly ''worm-fence" had 
stood and rotted; the neglected homestead dropped into 
ruins slowly and steadily; and at length its owner, deserting 
his native State and all its proud memories, in which per- 
haps his stalwart fathers had borne their part, migrated to 
the new lands of western New York, or of Ohio and Ken- 
tucky. These desolate wastes met the eye in almost every 
portion of Maryland, and excited the forebodings of men 
who cherished the prosperity of their native State. 

It was necessary that an effort should be made to arouse 
public attention and to awaken the husbandman from his 
apathy. Agricultural societies were formed throughout the 
counties, a State association was assembled, an excellent 
journal established to advocate the cause of the noblest of 
all pursuits— the cultivation of the soil. Men of enterprise 
turned their attention to the restoration of these barren 
wastes, and soon presented to the astonished eye of the 
advocates of the ancient system, the "old fields" renovated 
suddenly by the power of lime, guano and composts judi- 
ciously applied, and blooming and producing with something 
of their pristine fertility. The spirit of improvement did not 
rest with these ; the man of smaller means imitated their ex- 
ample and profited by their experience. The barren wastes 
of the last generation are becoming smiling fields groanmg 
with yellow harvests, and rich meadows waving with sweet 
scented grasses ; the voices of a thriving rural population 
sound like music once more in these long deserted ranges; 
and the last " old field" of Maryland will soon yield to the 
onward progress of agricultural improvement.* 

* Witness Montgomery county, not long since deemed one of the poorest counties 
of the State and now almost among the most productive. To «' the American Far- 
mer " an excellent but unpretending Journal, the people of the Slate owe much of 
this'imprnvement ; and State pride should induce every man to aid it in its laudable 
iffuris to spr.ad liglit upon Uiu iuiporlanl science of agriculture. 



368 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1845-6. 

Manufactures. While this advance in agriculture was going 
on the manufacturer was not idle. Many of the streams 
of Maryland were admirably calculated for the purposes of 
propelling machinery, and wherever there was a site for a 
factory, the aroused enterprise of the people seized upon 
it, until the State has become a manufacturing as well as a 
commercial and agricultural community. 
The Mexican For several years, difficulties of a serious cha- 
^'"' racter had remained unsettled between the gov- 
ernments of Mexico and the United States. They were 
brought to a crisis by the annexation, to the United States, 
of Texas, a province of Mexico, which had declared and 
successfully maintained its independence as a separate 
State. This event was consummated in July, 1845; and a 
body of American troops, under Gen. Zachary Taylor, was 
ordered by President Polk, at the request of the conven- 
tion of Texas, to occupy the western boundary of the State. 
The Texans claimed the territory from the Rio Grande to 
the Sabine, while the Mexicans contended that the Rio 
Neuces was the boundary line of Texas, at the same time 
maintaining their right to the whole of that province. In 
August, 1845, Gen. Taylor took up his position at Corpus 
Christi, in Texas; his force in November amounted to 
about four thousand men. In January, 1846, he was or- 
dered to advance from Corpus Christi to the banks of the 
Rio Grande — that river presenting the best line of defence 
against any hostile force. On the 28th of March, he took 
up his position, and planted his batteries within cannon 
range of Matamoras, a Mexican town on the western bank 
of the Rio Grande. 

Ail attempts to settle the difficulties between the two 
republics by negotiation having failed, bothjparties began 
to prepare for war, and a large body of Mexican troops 
was concentrated at Matamoras. On the 24th of April, 
1846, a detachment of sixty-three dragoons linder Captain 



1846] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. ' 369 

Thornton, was surprised by the Mexicans, on the eastern 
side of the river, and after a severe conflict was compelled 
to surrender with the loss of sixteen men killed and 
wounded. Hostilities were thus commenced. Having 
reason to believe from the movements of the enemy that 
an attack was meditated on Point Isabel, his depot at the 
mouth of the Rio Grande, Gen. Taylor, leaving a garrison 
to defend Fort Brown, which he had erected opposite Ma- 
tamoras, hastened to relieve the menaced station. Imme- 
diately after his departure, the Mexican batteries opened 
upon Fort Brown, which was bombarded from the third 
until the tenth of May. Having strengthened Point Isabel, 
Gen. Taylor retraced his steps towards Fort Brown. 

In the meanwhile, Arista, the Mexican leader, PaioAito. 
had crossed the Rio Grande and thrown himself in front 
of the Americans. The hostile armies came in sight of 
each other at Palo Alto, on the 8th of May : the Mexicans 
numbered about six thousand, the Americans only twenty- 
two hundred men: but Gen. Taylor immediately resolved 
to risk an attack. An obstinate conflict ensued, in which 
the Mexicans were defeated and driven from the field with 
great slaughter. The Americans lost many valuable offi- 
cers, among whom was Major Samuel Ringgold, a brave 
son of Maryland, who, at the head of his battery of light 
artillery, had distinguished himself throughout that bloody 
but glorious conflict. Struck to the earth by a cannon ball, 
he exclaimed to those who left their places to assist him, 
"Don't stay with me; you have work to do — go ahead!" 
He was carried to the rear, and died in a few days after 
the action. 

But Arista, although defeated, was not yet Resaca de la 
conquered; he took up a position at Resaca de Paima. 
la Palma, three miles from the field of battle, with the de- 
termination of again trying the fortune of war. On the 
following morning, the 9th of May, Gen. Taylor advanced 

Z z 



370 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1846. 

to attack him. A severe engagement ensued, in which the 
Mexicans were completely routed and driven across the 
river. Conspicuous among those who distinguished them- 
selves at this battle, was Lieut. Randolph Ridgely, another 
son of Maryland, who had succeeded Ringgold in the com- 
mand of his light artillery. 

The Baltimore The first official announcement of the com- 
Battaiion. mencement of hostilities by the capture of Thorn- 
ton's command, was made to Congress on the 11th of May 
by message from the President of the United States ; and 
that body immediately authorized the executive to acce])t 
the services of fifty thousand volunteers, and voted ten mil- 
lions of dollars to carry on the war. Requisitions were at 
once made upon the several States for their respective quo- 
tas of this force. Two regiments were assigned to Mary- 
land, and Governor Pratt was requested to hold them in 
readiness: they were, however, never called into service. 
As soon as intelligence was received of the actions of the 
8th and 9th of May, the goVernment determined to carry 
the war into Mexico, and more troops were called for. A 
battalion of six companies was assigned to Maryland and 
the District of Columbia. The quota of Maryland was 
speedily filled, and several additional companies tendered 
their services which were declined. Four companies num- 
bering four hundred men, were furnished by Maryland : 
they were commanded by Capts. Stewart, Kenly, Piper and 
Boyd. Wm. H. Watson, Esq. of Baltimore, was appointed 
colonel of the battalion. As soon as the organization of 
the corps was completed, it sailed from Alexandria for the 
Brazos, where it landed and encamped on the 4th of July. 
Gen. Taylor having resolved to advance upon Monterey 
a strongly fortified town in the interior, where a large body 
of Mexicans was posted, the army took up the line of 
march in high spirits — the Baltimore Battalion, through the 
exertions of its colonel, having been assigned a place 



1846.] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 371 

with the regulars in the first division under Gen. Twiggs. 
On the 19th of September, Gen. Taylor encamped at the 
Walnut Springs, three miles from Monterey, which was 
now defended by a garrison of about 7,000 regulars and 
3,000 militia under Gen. Ampudia, while the American 
forces numbered only six thousand six hundred men. 

On the 20th of September, Gen. Worth was storming of 
ordered to make a detour with his division, and Monterey, 
assail the works of Monterey on the Saltillo road. On the 
morning of the 21st, the two divisions advanced to the 
assault. The first and third regiments of regular infantry 
and the Baltimore Battalion, supported by Bragg's and 
Ridgely's batteries, the whole under Col. Garland, were 
ordered to attack the lower part of the town: Major Mans- 
field, of the engineers, selected the point of assault. For 
a space of five hundred yards, these gallant men were 
exposed to a destructive fire from the batteries and a cross 
fire from the citadel. They bravely pressed onward, and 
rushed into the streets of the town. Here a terrible recep- 
tion awaited them. From the house tops, from the win- 
dows, and from barricades, a torrent of fire opened upon 
them, while a masked battery suddenly poured its dis- 
charcres close into their ranks. The destruction was fearful : 
officers and men fell rapidly ] and the column recoiled. 
Col. Watson, finding his battalion in confusion, dismount- 
ed from his horse to rally his men, and at the head of a 
party pressed on through the terrific fire with dauntless 
resolution. He soon fell a victim to his ardor. Struck by 
a cannon ball in the neck he sunk into the arms of Capt. 
Oden Bowie, one of his comrades, and expired : while 
Capts. Stewart and Piper of his battalion, made their way 
to the very muzzles of the enemy's guns. 

Gen. Taylor, seeing the destruction of so many men and 
finding it impossible to carry this point, rode into the midst 
of the fire and ordered the column to fall back. Two com- 



372 HISTORY OF MARY1.AND. [1846. 

panies of regulars had obtained a position overlooking one 
of the batteries of this strong point, and opened a fire upon 
it, while it was assailed in front by Gen. Quitman with the 
Mississippi and Tennessee volunteers, and taken by storm. 
The guns of this formidable post were immediately turned 
upon the second battery, which Gen. Butler with the Ohio 
volunteers was ordered to assail. He was, however, driven 
back with great loss after a bloody and gallant struggle in 
which he himself was wounded. In the meanwhile, Col. 
Garland with the first, third and fourth regiments and the 
Baltimore Battalion, again prepared to enter the city. As 
soon as the column passed beyond the captured battery, 
the same destructive fire opened upon it, but the men con- 
tinued to press on from street to street, until after incredi- 
ble exertions they were again compelled to withdraw with 
heavy loss. 

On the western side. Gen. Worth, on the 21st, captured 
several forts; and, on the 22d, stormed the Bishop's Palace, 
a strongly fortified position; while on the 23d, he succeeded 
in forcing his way into the centre of the city. The assault 
upon the lower part of the city was again renewed, and 
the enemy distracted by the success of Worth, were driven 
in towards the great plaza — the American troops cutting 
their way from house to house, thus rendering the strong 
defences of the streets unavailing. Every thing was now 
ready for a final assault — when Gen. Ampudia, on the 
morning of the 24th of September, hopeless of maintain- 
ing his ground, capitulated, and received honorable terms 
from the generosity of Gen. Taylor. 

Capt. James E. Stewart, the senior captain of the Balti- 
more Battalion, was appointed colonel commanding in 
place of the gallant Watson, by Gen. Twiggs, who compli- 
mented the officers of the battalion on the gallant bearing 
of their corps throughout the siege. The flag of the bat- 
talion was the first to enter Monterey. The body of Col. 



1S4G-7.] HISTORY OF MIRYLAND* 373 

Watson was recovered in a few hours after his death, by 
Lieut. M. K. Taylor, of Capt. Piper's company, and three 
volunteers, under a heavy fire, and buried on the field : 
one of these gallant men was killed by a cannon ball be- 
fore the interment was completed, and his body was laid 
by the side of his late commander. Another distinguished 
Marylander met his death in Monterey, during its occupa- 
tion by the Americans: the brave Ridgely, who had passed 
unscathed through so many scenes of blood, was thrown 
from his horse on the pavement, and instantly killed by 
the fall. 

It was, at length, determined by the administration that 
an expedition should be undertaken against Vera Cruz — 
to strike from that port to the capital of Mexico. The 
command of the forces destined for this line of opera- 
tions was given to Gen. Scott, who, upon his arrival in 
Mexico in January, 1847, withdrew from Gen. Taylor the 
greater part of his regulars and best volunteers. Among 
these was the Baltimore Battalion. It did not, however, 
share in the capture of Vera Cruz : for, to the regret of 
the men, they were stationed as part of the garrison of 
Tampico, until the expiration of their term of service. 

About the middle of February, 1847, Congress passed 
an act authorizing the President to raise ten regiments to 
serve for five years or during the war. Four companies 
were assigned by the government to Maryland, a company 
of dragoons under Capt. Richard T. Merrick, and three of 
voltigeurs, under Capts. Oden Bowie, J. B. Archer and 
John Eager Howard. Capt. Bowie, in consequence of ill 
health, brought on by severe servi<:e in Mexico, resigned ; 
and the company was only in part raised in Maryland. 
These companies, as soon as their complement was filled, 
were despatched to the Rio Grande, to the Camp of Instruc- 
tion, established near Matamoras to perfect the new troops, 
which were now pouring in from every quarter of the 
32 



374 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1847 

Union. The voltigeurs were afterwards ordered to the line 
of Gen. Scott, where they did good service : the dragoons 
under Capt. Merrick were retained on the northern line, 
and constantly engaged in the arduous and responsible 
duty of convoying trains of supplies to the army of Gen. 
Taylor. Large numbers of the young men of Maryland, 
unable to obtain service in the small requisitions made up- 
on their State, volunteered in the regiments of other States, 
and nearly fifty brave spirits joined Capt. Walker's com- 
pany of rangers. 

Another battalion, however, was accepted from Maryland 
and the District of Columbia, and the companies were 
rapidly filled up. The Maryland companies were, the Me- 
chanical volunteers, under Capt. Brown, the Twiggs rifle- 
men, Capt. M. K. Taylor, the Watson guards, Capt. Dolan, 
which were soon after joined by a company of light artil- 
lery under Capt. Tilghman, and another rifle company from 
Baltimore under Captain Schaeffer. The command of this 
battalion was conferred upon Col. Hughes; and it was 
immediately despatched to Vera Cruz. Gen. Scott, after 
capturing Vera Cruz, had already penetrated into the inte- 
rior, but the irregular troops of the enemy molested his 
rear, and endeavored to cut off* the trains which carried 
his supplies from Vera Cruz. As it was at length found 
necessary to take permanent possession of the National 
Bridge, the principal point of their depredations, Colonel 
Hughes was despatched with several companies of infantry 
and two pieces of artillery to seize this important position. 
Action at the On the 9th of Sept'r, Col. Hughes reached 
National Bridge, o^q bridge, and immediately made his disposi- 
tions to attack the forts which the Mexicans had erected 
there. Major Kenly, with Dolan's, Brown's, and Barry's 
companies of the battalion, was detached to assail the fort 
in the rear, while the Twiggs riflemen under Capt. Taylor, 
aided by the fire of two field pieces, made the attack in 



1847] HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 375 

front. Major Kenly's detachment, after a difficult march 
of four miles through a thick chapparal, made its appear- 
ance at the designated point, and the united assault proved 
successful. The Mexicans, almost without firing a shot, 
fled from their entrenchments, which were immediately 
garrisoned by Col. Hughes, who now employed his forces 
in dispersing the guerilla bands in the vicinity. In this 
service, Capt. Taylor's rifles distinguished themselves in 
several severe conflicts. The communications with the 
army were eff*ectually opened. Col. Hughes' battalion re- 
mained stationed at this exposed point, until it was march- 
ed to Jalapa as part of the garrison of that city, of which 
its commander was made governor. 

After the forces drawn from the line of the Rio Buena Visu. 
Grande had taken their departure for Vera Cruz, and Gen. 
Taylor's weakened condition had become known in Mex- 
ico, Gen. Santa Anna having gathered a powerful force of 
more than twenty thousand men, hastened to march against 
him. Gen. Taylor with about five thousand men posted 
himself at the strong position of Buena Vista, where he 
was attacked by the enemy on the 22d of February, 1847. 
The battle lasted two days, with terrible carnage and with 
various fortunes ; but, at length, the enemy, driven back at 
all points, and his masses slaughtered by the steady fire of 
the small but gallant army of Gen. Taylor, retreated on the 
night of the 23d, and was pursued by the American cavalry 
some distance from the scene of the glorious but bloody 
victory. This was the last action of importance upon that 
line of operations : and in the ensuing fall, Gen. Taylor 
returned to the United States, where he was received with 
that enthusiastic applause which his great actions had so 
well merited. 

Gen. Scott captured Vera Cruz on the 27th of scott's 
March, 1847, after an investment of fifteen days, victories, 
and on the 8th of April the advance division of his army 



376 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. [1847. 

under Gen. Twiggs, took up the line of march for the ca- 
pital of Mexico. Santa Anna, having collected another 
army, had posted himself at Cerro Gordo with fifteen thou- 
sand men, to oppose the advance of the Americans. On 
the 18th of April, Gen. Scott attacked his position, although 
it seemed almost impregnable, took it by storm, driving 
the routed enemy before him, and on the 15th of May, 
entered the city of Puebla, ninety miles from the Mexican 
capital. His army was now reduced to less than five thou- 
sand men, and he was compelled to await the arrival of 
reinforcements. Among the first that reached him was the 
regiment of voltigeurs under Col. Andrews, of which the 
three Maryland companies formed a part. In the month 
of August, Gen. Scott again commenced operations with 
eleven thousand men. His army penetrated without oppo- 
sition into the valley of the city of Mexico, where the 
Mexicans had gathered all their forces for the last struggle 
against his victorious arms. In rapid succession followed 
the fierce battles of Contreras and Churubusco, whose fatal 
termination induced the Mexicans to demand a truce for 
the purpose of opening negotiations for peace. 

The attempt at negotiation failed ; and on the 7th of 
September, Gen. Scott once more advanced his columns 
against the devoted city. On the 8th, the strong position 
of Molino del Rey was taken by storm ; on the 13th, the 
fortress of Chapultepec was carried after a long contested 
struggle, the causeways leading to the city crossed, and 
several of the gates of the capital stormed. On the morn- 
ing of the 14th of September, the American army made 
its entry into the city of Mexico, with no other opposition 
than that off'ered by a mob of convicts and leperos, who 
kept up an irregular assault upon the troops for twenty- 
four hours. 

Mexico was conquered. After a short delay, Santa An- 
na resigned the presidency, and the humbled republic sued 



184S.] 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 377 



for peace, and on the 2d of February, 1848, a treaty was 
signed at Guadaloupe Hidalgo by Mr. Trist, the American 
envoy, and Messrs. Couto, Atristain and Cuevas, the Mex- 
ican commissioners, which fixed the Rio Grande as the 
boundary of Texas, and ceded to the United States the rich 
territories of New Mexico and Upper California, which 
had been conquered by expeditions from the United States. 
The treaty, after some slight alterations, was ratified by 
both governments ; and peace was formally proclaimed in 
the United States, on the 19th of June, 1848, two years 
and two months from the commencement of hostilities. 

In the battles of the valley of Mexico, the Maryland 
companies of voltigeurs bore an honorable share : but they 
were particularly distinguished in the storming of the cas- 
tle of Chapultepec, where they were thrown in advance. 
Captain John Eager Howard, the grandson of the hero of 
Cowpens, was the first officer to cross the parapet and to 
leap down amidst the bristling bayonets of the foe, slaying 
several of the enemy with his own hand. Capt. Archer 
and Lieut. Swan were also distinguished for their courage 
and good conduct. The officers of these fine companies 
were ably seconded by their men.* How severe was the 
duty performed by these companies may be judged by their 
loss of men. Capt. Howard's company in the opening of 
the campaign, had numbered one hundred and five men : 
on the 25th of October, it had been reduced to fifty-one 
men, only forty-one of whom were able to do duty. Capts. 
Howard and Archer were subsequently promoted to the 
rank of major by brevet, for their gallantry. 

Upon the announcement of peace, the Maryland troops 
were honorably discharged from the service, and returned 
to their State with the fame they had won for her and for 
themselves. 

* Lt. Col. Johnstone's Report. Pub. Doc. 
32* 



378 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



[184S 



Thus stood Maryland in the year 1848. Its credit estab- 
lished ; its prosperity redoubled ; its great canal hastening 
to its completion to develope the mineral wealth of its 
mountains ; its rail road about to span the Alleghanies and 
strike the Ohio, annihilating distance, and pouring the 
trade of the West into the lap of Baltimore ; its Metropolis 
growing with a rapidity almost beyond precedent; its 
agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, flourishing more 
than at any former period ; and its people, swelling with 
the recollections of the past, rejoicing at the return of peace 
once more to the land, and proudly welcoming back to 
their midst, those gallant sons who have borne forward, as 
their fathers did of yore, the Stars and Stripes -of the Union, 
through serried rank, against frowning battery, and over 
towering wall, with the brave Old Maryland Bayonet. 





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CAPTAINS. 

John Lynch, 
Jacob Brice, 
Henry Gaither, 
John Courts Jones 
Richard Anderson 




ci r* ^ ce — • 



APPENDIX 



391 



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The above arrangement of the officers of the Maryland Line under 
the present establishment ordered by congress, will be found accurate, 
and contains a true state of their rank, respectively, up to the present 
time; part of the line being in Carolina and part in Maryland, the 
arrangement could not be completed on the first of January, pursuant 
to the resolution of congress, but the rank has been adjusted, upon the 
principle of seniority, to that date, and the promotions regularly made 
since to such vacancies as have happened. 

The soldiers, of the late seven Maryland regiments being incorpo- 
rated, now form the first and second regiments : those now levied, and 
about to be levied in the State, to be first marched to the southward, 
form the third regiment ; and it is proposed, as soon as the State com- 
pletes her quota, or levies more, sufficient to form the two other 
regiments, to dissolve the incorporation of the first and second, and 
assign the non-commissioned officers and old soldiers of those regi- 
ments to the first, second, third, fourth and fifth, to which they formerly 
belonged, in which the non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the 
late sixth and seventh — the Maryland part of the rifle and German 
regiments — the Maryland companies raised in the State, in other con- 
tinental corps, and the Maryland Artillery, are to be equally divided, 
unless the artillery should be continued as a corps, which the State has 
made application for to congress. 

This disposition, as soon as circumstances may admit, seems most 
just and desirable to the officers in general, and must tend to promote 
the service, by placing a proportion of the old troops in each of the pre- 
sent regiments. 

The Maryland part of the rifle and German regiments not being 
incorporated, or considered as distinct corps, nor included or arranged 
in the Maryland Line, have, notwithstanding, together with such com- 
panies as abovesaid and the Maryland Artillery, been considered a part 
of the State quota. I am theretbre induced to make the following 
return of the officers in these corps, to show their pretensions to such 
provision as has been granted, or may hereafter be made by congress, 
for them. 

The dates of commissions, and the promotions they might have been 
entitled to at the time of dissolution, I have in few instances been able 
to ascertain, for want of proper returns of their respective state of rank 
and vacancies ; nor from this cause could 1 ascertain or include the 
names or rank of any officers commanding the companies coming under 
the above description, except in Col. Nathaniel Gist's regiment. 

OrnCERS IN THE MARYLAND ARTILLERY. 



CAPTAINS. 

William Brown. 
Richard Dorsey. 



Robert Wilmot, 
Jacques Bacques, 
Nicholas Rickets, 



CAPTAIN LIEDTENANTS. 

Ebenezer Finley. 
James Smith. 



FIRST LIEUTENANTS. 



Young Wilkinson, 
Clement Skerrett, 
James McFadon. 



SECOND MEUTKNANTS. 

Isaac Rawlings, Jolin Chovere, John Carson. 



APPENDIX. 393 

OFFICERS IN THE MARYLAND PART OF THE RIFLE CORPS. 

CAPTAINS. 

James M. Lingan, 



Thomas Hussey Lucket, 
Adamson Tannehill, 



Rezin Davis, 



Lieutenant Elijah Evans — but claims a captaincy. 

OFFICERS IN THE MARYLAND PART OF THE GERMAN CORPS. 

Lieut. Colonel Lodowick Weltner, commissioned 9th August, 1777, 

CAPTAINS. 

Charles Baltzell, 10th May, 1777. Christ'r Myers, 12th March, 1778, 
Michael Boyer, 25th May, 1778. 

LIEUTENANTS. ENSIGN. 

Martin Shugart, 23th May, 1778. Jacob Reybold, 21th July, 1778. 

Jacob Gromath, 4th January, 1778. sdrgeon. 

David Morgan, 8th April, 1778. Alexander Smith, August, 1778. 

OFFICERS IN THE MARYLAND PART OF COL. NATHANIEL GIST'S 

REGIMENT. 

Major Nathaniel Mitchell. 

CAPTAINS. 

John Gist, Joseph Smith, Joseph Britain. 

There are many other officers not included here who raised their 
companies in, and went from, the State of Maryland into the continental 
line, who come under the same description with those above enume- 
rated; therefore, upon application, the expediency of admitting their 
claims must necessarily come under consideration. 

W. SMALLWOOD, M. G.* 

* These several military organizations have been given as a matter of great in- 
terest — to enable the reader to trace the different officers who distinguished them- 
selves, in their promotions from the commencement to the close ef the war. 



APPENDIX E. 

TABLE OF REGULARS AND MILITIA FURNISHED BY MARYLAND 
DURING THE REVOLUTION. 

REGULARS. MILITIA. 

1775 250 

1776 1,704 2,592 

1777 2,030 1,535 

1778 3,307 

1779 2,849 

1780 2,065 ,. 1,280 

1781 770 

1782 1,280 

1783 974 



Regulars 15,229 5,407 

Militia 5,407 



Total 20,636 

C3 



394 



APPENDIX 

















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rederick County, 
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APPENDIX. 399 

In connection with these several rolls of revolutionary officers, a de- 
scription of the uniforms worn by the several corps of the continental 
army is appended, as of general interest. It is extracted from a letter 
from George Washington P. Custis, Esq. to Gen. John Spear Smith, 
President of the Maryland Historical Society, to whose kindness the 
author is indebted for its appearance here. It has, he believes, never 
before been published. 

THE GENERAL STAFF. 

"Blue and hnfF (the ancient whig colors of England) were adopted 
by Washington, as the uniform of the company that he first commanded, 
in the dawn of our troubles with the mother country. Buff lining to 
coat; buff under-clothes ; black stock ; black boots; cocked hat, with 
black ribbon cockade; white plumes for the general officers; yellow 
buttons, and sword mountings. Washington always wore a white stock, 
and, never, a plume." 

ARTILLERY. 

" Blue coat, red facings and linings ; red waistcoat ; white breeches, 
half leg black gaiters; black stock; cocked hat, with black cockade ; 
plume, red and blue — red uppermost ; and yellow buttons." 

INFANTRY. 

"Blue coat with red facings, white lining and white under-clothes ; 
black gaiters and stock ; cap with blue and white plumes. Light In- 
fantry. — Short coatees, with blue and white plume, white buttons, and 
silver sword mountings." 

LIFE GUARD. 

" Blue coat with white facings, white under-clothes, white lining ; 
black gaiters ; blue and white plume : officers, cocked hats, blue and 
white plumes. Washington's Life Guard was a major's command — 
180 picked men, commanded by Gibbs and Colfax — the crack corps of 
the army." 

RIFLEMEN. 

"Hunting shirt and leggins — picturesque costume of the woodsmen, 
and the veritable emblem of the Revolution. Morgan's riflemen wore, in 
winter, blue and white uniforms ; hat turned up at the side with buck's 
tail ; belt, tomahawk and knife." 

CAVALRY . 

" Lee's Legion, same as Tarleton's German Rangers, green and 
black — green buttons ; buff under-clothes. 

Washington's horse. 

" Blue and red, white under-clothes, white buttons and silver mount- 
ings-" 

"N. B. On the colors of the rifle corps, was the tomahawk, instead 
of a spear." 



400 



APPENDIX . 



APPENDIX G. 

THE LORDS PROPRIETARY OF MARYLAND. 

1632. Cecilius Calvert, Second Lord Baltimore. 

1675. Charles Calvert, Third " " 

1715. Benedict Leonard Calvert, Fourth Lord Baltimore. 

1715. Charles Calvert, Fifth 

1751. Frederick Calvert, Sixth and last Lord Baltimore. 

1771 to 1776. Henry Harford, Last Proprietarj^ 



APPENDIX H. 



GOVERNORS OF MARYLAND. 



1633. Leonard Calvert. 
1647. Thomas Greene. 
1649. William Stone. 
1654. Commissioners under Par- 
liament. 
1658. Josiah Fendall. 

1661. Philip Calvert. 

1662. Charles Calvert. 

1667. Charles Lord Baltimore. 
1678. Thomas Notley. 
1681. Charles Lord Baltimore. 
1685. William Joseph, Pres. of 

Deputies. 
1689. Convention of Protestant 

Association. 

ROYAL GOVERNORS. 

1692. Sir Lionel Copley. 

1693. Sir Edmond Andros. 

1694. Francis Nicholson. 
1699. Nathaniel Blackistone, 

1703. Thomas Tench, President. 

1704. John Seymour. 
1709. Edward Lloyd, Pres. 

1714. John Hart. 

PROPRIETARY GOVERNMENT. 

1715. John Hart. 
1720. Charles Calvert. 

1727. Benedict Leonard Calvert. 

1732. Samuel Ogle. 

1733. Charles Lord Baltimore. 
1735. Samuel Ojjle. 

1742. Thomas Bladen. 
1747. Samuel Ogle. 

1752. Benjamin Tasker, Pres. 

1753. Horatio Sharpe. 
1769. Robert Eden. 



THE REVOLUTION. 

1774-5-6. Convention and Coun- 
cil of Safety. 

STATE GOVERNMENT. 

1777. Thomas Johnson. 
1779. Thomas Sim Lee. 
1782. William Paca. 
1785. William Smallwood, 
1788. John Eager Howard. 

1791. George Plater. 

1792. Thomas Sim Lee. 
1794. John H. Stone. 

1797. John Henry. 

1798. Benjamin Ogle. 
1801. John Francis Mercer. 
1803. Robert Bowie. 
1806. Robert Wright. 
1809. Edward Lloyd. 

1811. Robert Bowie. 

1812. Levin Winder. 

1815. Chas. Ridgely, of Hampton. 

1818. Charles Goldsborough. 

1819. Samuel Sprigg. 
1822. Samuel Stevens, Jr. 
1825. Joseph Kent. 

1828. Daniel Martin. 

1829. Thomas King Carroll. 

1830. Daniel Martin. 

1831. George Howard. 

1832. James Thomas. 
1835. Thomas W. Veazey. 
1838. William Grason. 
1841. Francis Thomas. 
1844. Thomas G. Pratt. 
1847. Philip Francis Thomas. 



APPENDIX 



401 



APPENDIX I. 



MEMBERS OF THE MARYLAND CONVENTION OF 1776, WHICH 
FRAMED THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE. 



St. Mary^s County. 
Richard Barnes, 
Ignatius Fenwick, 
George Plater, 
Jeremiah Jordan. 

Charles County. 

Robert T. Hooe, 
John Dent, 
Thomas Semmes, 
John Parnhara. 

Calvert County. 

Benjamin Mackall, 
Charles Grahame, 
William Fitzhugh, 
John Mackall. 

Prince George^s County. 

Walter Bowie, 
Benjamin Hall, 
Osborn Sprigg, 
Luke Marbury. 

^nne Arundel County. 

John Hall, 

Brice T. B. Worthington, 
Kezin Hammond, 
Samuel Cliase. 

Frederick— Lower District, now 
Montgomery County. 

Thomas Sprigg Wootton, 
Jonathan Wilson, 
William Bayly, Jr. 
Elisha Williams. 

Middle District—Fjederick County. 

Adam Fischer, 
Upton Sheredine, 
Christopher Edelen, 
David Schriver. 

Upper District — Washington and 
Alleghany Counties. 

Samuel Beall, 
Samuel Hughes, 
John Stull, 
Henry Schnebly. ^ . ^ 



Baltimore County. 

Charles Ridgely, 
Thomas Cockey Deye, 
John Stevenson, 
Peter Shepherd. 

Harford County. 

Jacob Bond, 
Henry Wilson, Jr. 
John Love, 
John Archer. 

Cecil County. 

Joseph Gilpin, 
Patrick Ewing, 
David Smith, 
Benjamin Brevard. 

Talbot County. 

Pollard Edmondson, 
John Gibson, 
Matthew Tilghman, 
James Lloyd Chamberlaine. 

Caroline County. 

Nathaniel Potter, 
William Richardson, 
Richard Mason, 
Henry Dickinson. 

Dorchester County. 

Robert Goldsborough, 
James Murray, 
John Ennalls, 
James Ennalls. 

Somerset County. 

Gustavus Scott, 
George Scott, 
William Horsey, 
Henry Lowes. 

Worcester County. 

Samuel Handy, 
Peter Chaille, 
Smith Bishop, 
Josiah Mitchell. 
D3 



402 



APPENDIX 



Kent County. 

Thomas Ringgold, 
William Ringgold, 
Joseph Earle, 
Thomas Smyth. 

Queen Anne's County. 

Turbut Wright, 
James Kent, 



Matthew Tilghman, President. 



William Bruff, 
Solomon Wright. 

Baltimore City. 
John Smith, 
Jeremiah T. Chase. 

Jtnnapolis. 

William Paca, 

Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

Gabriel Duvall, Clerk. 



APPENDIX J. 



ratification of the constitution of the united 
states by the maryland convention, 1788. 

Jn Convention of the Delegates oj the People of the State of Maryland, 

28th Jpril, 1788. 

We, the delegates of the people of the State of Maryland, having 
fully considered the Constitution of the United States of America, re- 
ported to Congress by the Convention of Deputies from the United 
States of America, held in Philadelphia on the 17th day of September, 
in the year 1787, of which the annexed is a copy, and submitted to us 
by a resolution of the General Assembly of Maryland, in November 
Session, 1787, do, for ourselves, and in the name and on the behalf of 
the people of this State, assent to and ratify the said constitution. 

In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names. 



George Plater, President. 



Richard Barnes, 
Charles Chilton, 
N. Lewis Sewall, 
William Tilghman, 
Donaldson Yeates, 
Isaac Perkins, 
William Granger, 
Joseph Wilkinson, 
Charles Graham, 
Daniel Sullivan, 
James Shaw, 
Joseph Gilpin, 
H, Hollingsworth, 
James Gordon Heron, 
Samuel Evans, 
Fielder Bowie, 
Osborne Sprigg, 
Benjamin Hall, 
John Chesley, Jr. 
William Smith, 
G. R. Brown, 

Attest : 



J. Parnham, 
Zeph. Turner, 
Michael Jenifer Stone, 
R. Goldsborough, Jr. 
Edward Lloyd, 
John Stephens, 
George Gale, 
Henry Waggaman, 
John Stewart, 
John Gale, 
N. Hammond, 
Abraham Few, 
William Paca, 
J. Richardson, 
William Richardson, 
Matt. Driver, 
Peter Edmondson, 
James McHenry, 
John Coulter, 
George Digges, 



Nicholas Carrole, 
Alexander C. Hanson, 
James Tilghman, 
John Seney, 
James Holliday, 
William Helmsley, 
Peter Chaille, 
James Martin, 
William Morris, 
John Done, 
Thomas Johnson, 
Thomas Sim Lee, 
Richard Potts, 
Thomas Sprigg, 
John Stull, 
Moses Rawlings, 
Henry Shryock, 
Thomas Cramphin, 
Richard Thomas, 
William Deakins, Jr. 
Benjamin Edwards, 



William Harwood, Clerk. 



APPENDIX. 403 



APPENDIX K. 

MARYLAND SENATORS IN THE UNITED STATES' SENATE. 
WESTERN SHORE. 

1789, March 4th, Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

1793, January 10th, Richard Potts. 

1796, November 30th, John Eager Howard. 

1803, March 4th, Samuel Smith. 

1816, January 29th, Robert G. Harper. 

1816, December 20th, Alexander Contee Hanson. 

1819, December 21st, William Pinkney. 

1822, December 15th, Samuel Smith. 

1833, March 4th, Joseph Kent. 

1838, January 4th, William D. Merrick. 

1845, March 4th, Reverdy Johnson. 

EASTERN SHORE. 

1789, March 4th, John Henry. 

1797, December 11th, James Lloyd. 

1800, December 12th, William Hindman 

1801, November 19th, Robert Wright. 

1806, November 25th, Philip Reed, 

1813, May 21st, Robert H. Goldsborough. 

1819, December 21st, Edward Lloyd. 

1826, January 24th, Ezekiel F. Chambers. 

1835, January 13th,.. : R. H. Goldsborough. 

1836, December 31st, John S. Spence. 

1841, January 5th, John Leeds Kerr. 

1843, March 4th, James Alfred Pearce. 



404 



APPENDIX 





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APPENDIX 



405 



APPENDIX M. 

POPULATION OF MARYLAND. 



Year. 



1634 
1660 
1665 
1671 
1701 
1715 
1748 
1756 
1775 
1782 
1790 
1800 
1810 
1820 
1830 
1840 



Whites. 



Negro Slaves. 



The first col- 1 ony, about. 



Free Blacks. 



Total. 



40,700 
94,000 
107,963 
About.. 
170,688 
208,649 
222,402 
235,575 
261,305 
291,224 
317,575 



9,500 

36,000 

46,225 



83,362 
103,036 
107,703 
111,502 
107,306 
102,878 

89,619 



8,043 
19,587 
33,469 
38,739 
52,938 
61,938 



200 

12,000 

16,000 

20,000 

30,000 

50,200 

130,000 

154,188 

200,000 

254,050 

319 728 

349,692 

380,546 

407.350 

447,040 

469,232 



POPULATION OF THE COUNTIES OF MARYLAND 

In 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, and 1840, as shown by the census taken 

in those years. 
CECIL. KENT. 



SLAVES. 1 


F. COL. 


WHITE. 


TOTAL. 


SLAVES. 


F. COL. 


WHITE. 


TOTAL 


1790 


3,407 


163 


10,055 


13,625 


5,443 


655 


6,748 


12,83 


1800 


2,103 


373 


6,542 


9,018 


4,474 


1,786 


5,511 


11,771 


1810 


2,467 


947 


9,652 


13,066 


4,249 


1,979 


5,222 


11,450 


1820 


2,342 


1,783 


11,821 


16,046 


4,071 


2,067 


5,315 


11,453 


1830 


1,705 


2,249 


11,478 


15,432 


3,191 


2,260 


5,050 


10,501 


1840 


1,346 


2,552 


13,464 


17,362 


2,741 


2,586 


5,513 


10,840 


CAROLINE. 




TALBOT. 




SLAVES. 


F COL. WHITE. 1 


TOTAL. 


SLAVES. 


F. COL. 


WHITE. 


TOTAL. 


1790 


2,057 


421 


7,028 


9,506 


4,777 


1,076 


7,221 


13,084 


1800 


1,865 


602 


6,759 


9,226 


4,775 


1,.591 


7,070 


13,436 


1810 


1,520 


1,001 


6,932 


9,453 


4,878 


2,003 


7,349 


14,230 


1820 


1,574 


1,390 


7,144 


10,108 


4,769 


2,234 


7,386 


14,389 


1830 


1,171 


1,652 


6,247 


9,070 


4,173 

3,698 


2,483 


6,291 


12,947 


1840 


768 


1,727 


5,373 


7,868 


2,336 


6,069 


12,103 


QUEEN ANNE'S. 




SOMERSET. 




SLAVES. 


F. COL. 


WHITE. 


TOTAL. 


SLAVES. 


F. COL. 


WHITE. 


TOTAL. 


1790 


6,674 


618 


8,171 


15,463 


7,070 


268 


8,272 


15,610 


isoo 


6,517 


1,025 


7,315 


14,857 


7,432 


586 


9,340 


17,358 


1810 


6,381 


2,738 


7,529 


16,648 


6,975 


1,0.58 


9,162 


17,195 


1S20 


5,588 


2,138 


7,226 


14,952 


7,241 


1,952 


10,386 


19,579 


18.30 


4,872 


2,866 


6,559 


14,397 


6,556 


2,239 


11,371 


20,166 


1840 


3,979 


2.540 


6,006 


12,525 


5,385 


2,642 ■ 11,477 


19,504 



406 



APPENDIX 



DORCHESTEP, 



WORCESTER. 



1790 

1800 
1810 
1820 
1830 
1840 



SLAVES. 

5,377 


F. COL. 

528 


WHITE. 

10,010 


TOTAL. 

15,875 


SLAVES. 

3,836 


F. COL. 

178 


WHITE. 

7,626 


4,566 


2,365 


9,415 


16,346 


4,398 


449 


11,523 


5,032 


2,661 


10,415 


18,108 


4,427 


1,054 


11,490 


5,168 


2,497 


10,094 


17,759 


4,551 


1,636 


11,234 


5,001 


3,000 


10,685 


18,686 


4,032 


2,430 


10,197 


4,232 


3,965 


10,612 


18,809 


3,543 


3,063 


11,647 



TOTAL. 

11,640 
16,370 
16,971 
17,421 
16,659 
18,253 



ALLEGANY. 



WASHINGTON. 





SLAVES. 


r. COL. 


WHITE. 


TOTAL. 


SLAVES. 


F. COL. 


WHITE. 


1790 


258 


12 


4,539 


4,809 


1,286 


64 


14,472 


1800 


499 


101 


5,703 


6,303 


2,200 


342 


16,108 


1810 


620 


113 


6,176 


6,909 


2,656 


483 


15,591 


1820 


795 


195 


7,664 


8,654 


3,201 


627 


19,247 


1830 


818 


222 


9,569 


10,609 


2,909 


1,084 


21,275 


1840 


811 


216 


14,677 


15,704 


2,505 


1,556 


24,801 



TOTAL. 

15,822 
18,650 
18,730 
23,075 
25,268 
28,862 



FREDERICK. 



BALTIMORE. 



SLAVES. 


F. COL. 


WHITE. 


TOTAL. 


SLAVES. 


F. COL- 


WHITE. 


TOTAL. 


1790 


3,641 


213 


26,937 


30,791 


5,877 


604 


18,953 


25,434 


1800 


4,572 


473 


26,478 


31,523 


6,830 


1,536 


24,1.50 


32,516 


1810 


5,671 


783 


27,983 


34,437 


6,697 


1,537 


21,021 


29,255 


1820 


6,555 


1,777 


32,097 


40,459 


6,720 


2,163 


24,580 


33,463 


1830 


6,370 


2,716 


36,703 


45,789 


6,533 


3,098 


30,625 


40,256 


1840* 


4,420 


2,987 


27,575 


34,982 


*4,440 


3,478 


24,184 


32,062 



BALTIMORE CITY. 



HARFORD. 





SLAVES. 


F. COL. 


WHITE. 


TOTAL. ; 


; SLAVES. 


F. COL. 


WHITE. 


TOTAL. 


1790 


1,255 


323 


11,925 


13,503 : 


\ 3,417 


775 


10,784 


14,976 


1800 


2,843 


2,771 


20,900 


26,514 


1 4,264 


1,344 


12,018 


17,626 


1810 


4,672 


5,671 


36,212 


46,455 


4,431 


2,221 


14,606 


21,258 


1820 


4,357 


10,326 


48,055 


62,738 


3,320 


1,387 


11,217 


15,924 


1830 


4,120 


14,790 


61,710 


80,620 


2,984 


2,048 


11,287 


16,319 


1840 


3,212 


17,980 


81,321 


102,513 


2,537 


2,449 


11,915 


16,901 



MONTGOMERY. 



PRINCE GEORGE S. 





SLAVES. 


F. COL. 


1790 


6,030 


294 


1800 


6,288 


262 


1810 


7,572 


677 


1820 


6,396 


22 


1830 


6.447 


1,266 


1840 


5,137 


1,240 



WHITE. 

11,679 
8,508 
9,731 
9,082 

12,103 
8,292 



TOTAL. 

18,003 


SLAVES. 

11,176 


F. COL. 

164 


WHITE. 

10,004 


15,058 


12,191 


648 


8,346 


17,980 


9,189 


4,929 


6,471 


16,400 


11,285 


1,096 


7,835 


19,816 


11,585 


1,202 


7,667 


14,659 


10,640 


1,080 


7,763f 



TOTAL. 

21,344 
21,185 

20,589 
20,216 
20,474 



SAINT MARY S. 



CALVERT. 



APPENDIX 



407 



CHARLES. 



ANNE ARUNDEL. 



1790 
1800 
1810 
1820 
1830 
1840 



SLAVES. 


F. COL. 


WHITE. 


TOTA L. 


SLAVES. 


F. COL. 


WHITE. 


10,085 


404 


10,124 


20,613 


10,130 


804 


11,664 


9,558 


571 


9,048 


19,172 


9,760 


1,833 


11,030 


12,435 


412 


7,.398 


20,245 


11,693 


2,536 


12,439 


9,419 


567 


6,514 


16,500 


10,328 


3,382 


13,455 


10,129 


851 


6,789 


17,769 


9,997 


4,076 


14,222 


9,280 


817 


5,915 


16,012 


9,816 


5,120 


14,599 



TOTAL. 

22,598 
22,623 
26,668 
27,165 
28,295 
29,535 



* CARROLL COUNTY. 

1840— Slaves, 1,120 • F. Col., 895 ; Whites, 15,223— Total, 17,238 



t^ 



QUESTIONS 

TO TH E 

HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 

Pa;e. 

13 In what year was America discovered, and bj' whom ? 

15 By whom, and when, was North America discovered? 

16 Describe the early attempts by the English to form settlements in 

North America. 
18 Who first explored the Chesapeake Bay ? Describe the explorations. 

21 Who was the founder of Maryland? Describe his early life and 

history. 

22 What causes led to the settlement of the colony ? 

1^4 To whom did the charter issue ? What were the main features of 
that charter ? 

25 What were Lord Baltimore's preparations for his first colony ? 

CHAPTER I. 

26 When did the first colony sail from England ? What were the 

names of the vessels, and who was the leader of the colony ? 

27 Describe the dangers of the voyage. 

29 What was the reception of the colony in Virginia? 

30 Where did the colony first land in Maryland ? Describe the cere- 

monies of the landing. 

31 How were the English received by the Indians ? 

32 Where did Leonard Calvert select the site for his first settlement ? 

33 Describe his treaty with the Indians. What was the date of this 

event ? 

34 What was the conduct of the settlers with regard to religious 

freedom? What was the nature of their relations with the In- 
dians ? 

35 Describe the founding of St. Mary's. 

37 What was the character and habits of the Indians in the vicinity of 
the settlement ? 



CHAPTER II. 

39 Who was the cause of the first disturbances in the colony ? What 

were Claiborne's claims ? How did he attempt to maintain them ? 

40 Where and when was the first battle fought in Maryland ? Give 

its result. 

41 When and where did the first General Assembly meet? What 

were the conditions of plantation ? 

42 What caused the first dispute between the Lord Proprietary and 

the colony? and how d'id it eventually terminate ? What pro- 
ceedings took place in Kent Island? 

35 3E 



410 QUESTIONS TO THE 

Page. 

43 When did the second General Assembly meet ? How was it con- 
stituted ? What were its proceedings ? What was its action 
with regard to Claiborne's rebellion? Describe Claiborne's 
further proceedings. 

46 What were the labors of the missionaries among the Indians ? 
Give their results. Describe the baptism of Tayac. Who were 
the missionaries ? What consequence did their labors produce 
on the peace of the colony? 

51 What were the principal tribes of Indians in Maryland ? What 
preparations were made for defence against them ? Describe 
the Indian troubles of 1642. 

55 What nations formed settlements within the boundaries of Mary- 

land ? Why was the third General Assembly convened, and what 
were its proceedings ? 

56 How and when were the first State House, and the first water mill 

built in the colony ? 

CHAPTER III. 

58 How did affairs in England affect the colony ? In what outbreak 

did these dissensions result? What course did Governor Calvert 
pursue ? 

59 What was the conduct of Governor Brent ? What was Governor 

Calvert's action upon his return to Maryland ? 

60 What was the conduct of the rebels after their victory ? 

61 What were Lord Baltimore's course and opinions upon the loss of 

his province ? When and how did Leonard Calvert regain pos- 
session of Maryland ? What steps did he take to preserve his 
power ? 

62 When did Leonard Calvert die ? What was his character ? Whom 

did he appoint his successor? 

6o What difficulties arose out of the rebellion ? 

64 How was religious liberty effected by the troubles? What mea- 
sures did Lord Baltimore and the Assembly take for the preser- 
vation of freedom of conscience ? 

67 What was the condition of affairs in England, and their effect 
upon the colony ? Whom did Charles II appoint Governor of 
Maryland ? 

69 What was the conduct of the parliament party towards the colony ? 

Who brought about the "reduction" of Maryland? Describe 
the proceedings of Claiborne and Bennett. 

70 What Indian outbreak occurred at this time ? 

71 How did these troubles affect the prosperity of the colony ? How 

did Lord Baltimore attempt to regain his province ? 

72 What was the course of the Puritans towards the early settlers ? 

Did Lord Baltimore submit to these proceedings ? What mea- 
sures did Gov. Stone take to reconquer the province ? Describe 
the battle at Providence. When was it fought? 

75 What was the cond..ct of the victors ? 

76 What course was taken in England upon these affairs ? How did 

the parties maintain themselves in the colony ? When and on 
what terms did the Puritans submit to the authority of Lord 
Baltimore. 

79 What course did Governor Fendall pursue in the colony ? 

81 What is said of Claiborne — and his death ? 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 411 



CHAPTER IV. 

83" What is said of the history of the State from 1660 to 16S9 ? 

84 What was the character of Philip Calvert's government ? Give 

the increase in population — and the date of the erection of the 
counties formed up to this period. What is said of the towns 
and trade of this period ? How did the assembly prove their 
affection for the Calverts ? 

85 What is said of the character of the acts of assembly at this pe- 

riod? What of negro slavery in the colony? 

87 What was the condition of the tobacco culture in 1663 ? and what 

measures were adopted to remedy the evil ? 

88 What is said of civil and religious freedom in the colony ? Of the 

reception of the Friends in Maryland ? 

89 Describe the troubles with the Indians in 1675. 

91 What efforts were made to injure Lord Baltimore and his govern- 

ment in England? and how did he meet them ? 

92 What is said of Fendall and Coode's attempt to excite disturbances 

in the colony ? 

93 What measures were taken against the charter In England ? 

94 What causes led to the revolution of 1689 ? By whom was the 

revolution brought about ? Describe it. 

95 What was the action of the convention of 1689 ? Who was the 

first royal governor? When was he appointed? What was the 
action of the assembly of 1692, with regard to religious liberty ? 

96 What to the Proprietary ? What to old St. Mary's ? Describe the 

consequence to the anciertt city, of the removal of the govern- 
ment. 

9S What was the dispute about the incorporation of Annapolis ? 

99 What part did Maryland take in the French war of this period ? 
When and how was the first public post established ? 

100 What is said of the early schools of the colony ? Describe the 

system and its operation. 

10 1 When was the State house destroyed by fire ? What is said of the 

Royal Government in Maryland, and the attempts to destroy the 
charter ? 

103 What causes operated against the growth of the culony ? What 

attempts were made to establish manufactures in 1697? 

104 What is said of this period of the History of Maryland ? 

CHAPTER V. 

105 Describe the restoration of the Proprietary Government ? What 

is said of the struggles which ensued between the people and 
the government ? 

107 What measures were taken towards the Indians ? 

108 What is said of the Indian conspiracy ? and of the treaty with the 

six nations. 

109 When was Baltimore founded ? 

110 What is said of the first press and first newspaper in Maryland ? 

When was Frederick laid out ? 

111 When Georgetown? What is said of military affairs? and the 

expedition against the Spanish colonies ? 

1 12 What aid was furnished to the expedition against Canada ? 



412 QUESTIONS TO THE 

Page. , 

113 Who were the Governors from 1615 to 1653 ? What coimties were 

erected from 1660 to the present time in Maryland ? Give their 
respective dates ? 

114 What is said of population and manufactures ? 

116 What is said of the organization of the established church ? What 
of the condition of the currency ? 

118 What was the first dispute concerning the boundary of the colony? 

119 Describe the dispute concerning the Delaware boundary on the 

east, and the Pennsylvania boundary on the north. 
123 Describe the dispute with Virginia on the west. 

CHAPTER IV. 

126 Who became Lord Proprietary in 1751 ? What is said of the 

French and Indian war ? 

127 What measures did Maryland take with regard to it? 

129 What is said of Gov. Sharpe as commander-in-chief? 

130 What measures were taken for the capture of Fort Duquesner 

132 Describe Braddock's defeat ? 

133 What were the consequences to Maryland ? 

134 What measures were adopted to defend the frontiers? 

135 What dissensions arose in reference to Fort Cumberland ? 

137 What steps were taken by the legislature for defence of the fron- 

tiers ? 

138 What is said of Fort Frederick? 

139 What is said of Col. Cresap's exploits? What was the condition 

of the borders in 1756 ? 
141 What measures were taken for defence in 1757 ? 

143 What is said of Fort Cumberland ? 

144 What measures were adopted in 1758 to capture Fort Duquesne ? 

Describe Gen. Forbes' expedition. ' 

145 Describe Grant's defeat? 

147 Describe the action at Loyal Hanning. 

148 When and how was Fort Duquesne captured? 

How was the news of its capture received in Maryland ? 

CHAPTER VII. 

149 What were the principal subjects of dispute between the House 

of Delegates, and the Governor and Council in 1758 ? 

150 What is said of the peace with France ? and the subsequent policy 

of England ? What of the resources and population o^ Mary- 
land ? 

151 What was the origin of the stamp act ? How was its passage re- 

ceived in Maryland ? 

152 What was the resistance to it in Maryland ? 

153 What was the fate of the stamp officer? 

154 What course did the assembly of 1765 adopt? 

155 What is said of Daniel Dulany ? 

156 Describe the proceedings of the Congress of 1765 — and the as- 

sembly. 

157 What was the declaration of the assembly as to the foundation of 

the colony ? and its rights and liberties ? 

158 Describe the contest about the journal of accounts. 

159 What was done with the stamp paper: 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND.- 413 

IGO What was the decision of Frederick County Court upon the stamp 
act ? How was this event celebrated ? 

161 What steps were taken with regard to the public offices ? When 

was the act repealed ? 

162 How was its repeal received in Maryland ? What honors were 

voted to the friends of the colonies in this struggle ? Who were 
the principal persons named ? 

168 What was the elFect of this struggle upon the people ? What was 

Townshend's declaration in parliament ? What consequence 
flowed from it? How was the new attempt to tax the colonies 
received? 

164 What was the course of the Maryland assembly ? Who were the 

principal members in this body ? 

165 What was the condition of the magazine ? Describe the formation 

of the Maryland non-importation society. What is said of" the 
Good Intent ?" 

166 What policy did the British ministry adopt to remove the hostility 

of the colonists ? What course did the associations pursue in 
Maryland ? 

167 What is said of the proclamation and vestry acts? 
16S What is said of the officers' fees and tithes ? 

169 What is said of Charles Carroll of CarroUton, and his controversy 

with Daniel Dulany ? 

170 How did the people reward the services of Carroll ? 

171 How was the triumph of the patriots celebrated in Annapolis? 

What is said of the vestry act and the termination of the con- 
troversy ? 

172 What were the consequences of the revival of the tax upon tea? 

When and where did the first revolutionary convention assemble 
in Maryland ? 

173 What were its proceedings ? What was the course of the non- 

importation associations ? 

174 Describe the tea burning at Annapolis : at Hagerstown. What 

was the action of the congress and the convention ? 

175 What is said of the last Proprietary of Maryland ? 

176 Review the previous history. 

177 What is said of religious liberty in Maryland ? 

CHAPTERVIII. 

179 What is said of the preparations for defence against the oppres- 

sions of England ? What is said of Charles Carroll of Carroll- 
ton ? What was the aspect of alfairs upon the meeting of the 
convention ? 

180 How was the power of the convention maintained ? What mea- 

sures did the convention adopt? 
ISl How were these measures carried out by the people? What is 

said of the battles of Lexington and Concord ? 
182 Describe these battles — give their dates. 
188 What were the consequences of these battles in Maryland? 

184 What was the action of Congress? Who nominated Gen. Wash- 

ington as commander-in-chief? What were the proceedings of 
the Maryland convention ? 

185 What troops were raised by the convention? What is said of the 

rille coni;ianJes. 

35^ 



414 QUESTIONS TO THE 

Page. 

186 What measures were adopted to secure ammunition and supplies ? 

187 What is said of Col. Conolly's attempt ? What was its result? 

188 What is said of Lord Dunmore's machinations? 

189 How were they defeated ? 

190 Describe the Otter's cruize in the Chesapeake. 

191 What is said of the first continental fleet? What was Governor 

Eden's course at this time ? 

192 What steps were taken by the committee of safety in regard to 

him? 

193 What causes led to the Declaration of Independence ? By whom 

and when was the resolution introduced into Congress? 

194 What was the course of Maryland in regard to it? Who was 

principally instrumental in its adoption in Maryland ? 

195 What is said of Charles Carroll's signature to the Declaration of 

Independence ? How was the Declaration received in Mary- 
land ? What steps were taken by the Maryland convention in 
consequence ? 

196 What proceedings were taken in regard to the military force of the 

province. 

CHAPTERIX. 

197 When did General Howe invade New York ? What was the con- 

dition of the hostile armies when the Maryland troops reached 
the American camp ? 

198 Describe the battle of Brooklyn Heights. 

201 What is said of the conduct of the Maryland troops in this battle ? 

202 What part did the Maryland troops take in the retreat from Long 

Island and New York ? 

203 Describe the action of Harlaem Heights. 

204 Describe the battle of White Plains. 

205 What was the loss of the Maryland troops in this action ? 

206 What were the subsequent movements of the two armies ? 

207 Describe the storming of Fort Washington ? 

209 What were the subsequent movements of the armies ? 

210 Describe the battle of Trenton. 

211 Describe the battle of Princeton. 

213 What were the effects of these battles? What is said of the 

Maryland Line ? 

CHAPTER X. 

214 When and how was the convention to form a constitution and 

State government assembled and organized ? What new coun- 
ties did it form ? 

215 What were the proceedings of the convention in relation to the 

report on the constitution ? What were their first measures 
upon reassembling ? 

216 When were the bill of rights and form of government adopted ? 

What was the action of the convention upon the claims of Vir- 
ginia to the western lands ? 

217 AVhat was the form of government ? Legislative ? 

218 Executive ? Judicial? Elective franchise ? 

219 What is said of the position of the convention in regard to the 

past and future ? What is said of the declaration of rights ? 

220 How was the new form of government set in motion? 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 415 

Page. 

221 What were the first measures of the lee;islature ? 

222 What steps were taken to repress the Tories ? . 

223 Who was the first State Governor ? When and with what ceremo- 

nies was his election made and proclaimed? 

224 What exertions were now made to sustain the war? 



CHAPTER IX. 

225 What was the condition of the American army in 1777 ? What 

measures of defence were taken when the enemy entered the 
Chesapeake ? 

226 What part did the Maryland Line take in the attack on Staten 

Island ? 

228 Describe the battle of the Brandywine. 

229 What is said of the conduct of the Maryland Line in this battle ? 

230 What were the movements subsequent to this battle ? Describe 

Wayne's defeat at Paoli? 

231 What was the result of these movements ? Describe the battle of 

Germantown ? 
234 What is said of the conduct of the Maryland troops in this action ? 
2^5 Describe the defence of Fort Mifflin ? 

236 What were the subsequent movements of the hostile armies ? 

237 Where was the Line stationed in the winter of 1777 ? What is 

said of the alliance with France ? 

CHAPTER XII. 

239 What measures were taken in 1778 to obtain recruits ? What is 

said of Pulaski's corps ? 

240 What measures were adopted to suppress Toryism ? 

242 When and how was the Court of Appeals orojanized ? 

243 What w^as the action of the legislature of 177S, in reference to the 

public lands ? and to the treaty with France ? 

244 What were the preparations for the campaign of 1778 ? Describe 

the battle of Monmouth. 

247 What is said of Eaylor's and Pulaski's corps ? 

248 AVhat is said of the campaign of 1779 ? 

CHAPTER XIII. 

250 What is said of the military quotas of the State ? and the condi- 

tion of the people ? 

251 What is said of the State Marine and its reduction ? What is said 

of the State and continental currency, and the dispute between 
the house and senate in reference to the pay of the members ? 

252 What is said of Charles Carroll's protest ? 

254 Wliat provision was made for the relief of the officers of the Mary- 

land Line after the war ? 

255 What steps were taken to increase the strength of the Line ? 

256 What encouragement was offered to secure the immigration of for- 

eigners to Maryland ? 

257 What is said of Governor Johnson ? Who was his successor ? 

258 What causes led to the confiscation of Tory estates ? 

259 Describe the controversy on this subject ? 

260 What is said of the continental issues of paper money? 



416 QUESTIONS TO THE 

Pa?e. 

261 What is said of the confederation ? 

262 What was the course of Maryland in reference to this question ? 

264 When were the articles of confederation signed ? What were the 

principal features ? 

CHAPTERXIV. '' 

265 What was the condition of affairs in the southern States in 1779-80 ? 

What is said of the Maryland Line on its passage through the 
State to the South ? 

266 What measures were taken by the legislature to strengthen the 

Line and to arouse the people of the State ? 

267 Describe the march of the Line to the South. 

268 Describe the battle of Camden. 

272 Describe the death of De Kalb. What was his eulogy on the 

Maryland Line ? How was the news of his death received in 
Maryland ? 

273 What is said of the conduct of Smallwood, Gist, Howard and 

Williams, in this battle ? 

274 Describe the reassembling of the Line, and the subsequent move- 

ments. 

275 What new arrangement of the Line was made, and how were the 

regiments filled up ? Who was appointed to supersede General 
Gates ? 

276 Describe the movements prior to the battle of Cowpens. 

277 Describe the battle of Cowpens. 

278 Describe Howard's charge. What is said of the victory ? What 

incidents are related of Col. Washington and Everheart? 

279 What is said of Howard's conduct ? Describe Greene's retreat? 
282 What is said of Williams' corps during the retreat? 

28.3 What is said of this retreat ? 

284 Describe the defeat of Colonel Pyle. 

285 What reinforcements did Greene receive ? Describe the battle of 

Guilford Court House. 

287 What was Howard's conduct in this battle ? 

288 Describe the movements after the battle ? Describe the action at 

Hobkirk's Hill? 

291 Describe the movements after this action. 

292 Describe the capture of Fort Brown. The assault upon Ninety- 

Six. 

293 Give the subsequent movements. 

294 Describe the battle of Eutaw Springs. 

295 What is said of Howard's Marylanders and the Irish Buffs ? 

296 What were the results of this battle ? 

298 When was Charleston evacuated by the enemy ? Describe the 

campaign in Virginia. What is said of the patriotic ladies of 
Baltimore ? 

299 What was the reception of Washington in Maryland after the sur- 

render of Cornwallis ? 

CHAPTER XV. 

301 What measures were adopted to raise money in Maryland in 1781 ? 

302 Describe the Tory conspiracy in Frederick county. 

303 What was the opinion of Maryland upon Sir Guy Carleton's mis- 

sion ? How did the State display its affection for France ? 



HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 417 

Pa?e. ' 

304 What is said of the peace with Great Britain ? 

305 What is said of the Maryland Line during the revolution ? 

306 What is said of the Society of the Cincinnati ? 

307 Of the Maryland Society ? 

308 What proposition was made by the legislature to congress in refer- 

ence to the seat of government ? How was it received ? 

309 Describe Washington's resignation of his commission, and his re- 

ception at Annapolis. 

CHAPTERXVI. 

311 What is said of the national and State debt ? What measures 

were taken for their payment ? 

312 What was the origin of the State's bank stock ? What is said on 

the collection of debts due to British subjects ? 

313 What internal improvements were undertaken ? Describe the ori- 

gin and design of the Potomac Company. 

314 How were Washington and Lafayette received at Annapolis ? 

Who was the first president of the Potomac Company ? Into 
what company was the Potomac Company afterwards merged ? 

315 What is said of the growth of Baltimore ? What is said of eccle- 

siastical affairs ? Of education ? 

317 What is said of Smallwood and Howard ? Of Small wood's grave ? 

318 What causes led to the formation of the present Constitution of 

the United States ? What is said of the first convention assem- 
bled for this purpose ? What was the action of Maryland ? 

318 What is said of the second convention, and its proceedings ? 

What course was taken in Maryland to approve the Constitution ? 

319 What is said of the friends and opponents of the new Constitution? 

— and the effects the Constitution produced? 

320 What was the action of the Maryland convention ? 

321 What steps were taken to carry the Constitution into operation ? 

322 What is said of the conflict between the State Constitution and 

that of the Union ? When and where did the first Congress as- 
semble ? 

323 Who were the first President and Vice-President ? What is said 

of the public debt ? 

324 How and when was the District of Columbia laid off? What is 

said of the founding of Washington city ? 

326 What cause led to the whiskey insurrection ? Give its history. 

327 What is said of the French war ? 

328 When and how was the right of suffrage enlarged in Maryland ? 

329 What is said of this enlargement of the right of suffrage ? And 

of the ballot box ? 

330 What reforms were made in the judiciary ? What is said of the 

Tripolitan war ? and of the difficulties with England ? 

331 What course did Maryland take in this crisis ? What is said of 

the embargo ? 

332 How were domestic fabrics encouraged ? When was war declared 

against Great Britain ? What is said of the mob in Baltimore ? 

C HAPTE R XVII. 

334 What is said of the first year of the war of 1812 ? When did the 
British invade the Chesapeake ? What is said of their ravages 
What of the assault on Havre de Grace ? 

3F 



A 



418 HISTORY OF MARYLAND. 



Page. 

335 Describe the battle of Bladensburg. 

338 To what causes is this defeat to be a-ttribututed ? Describe the 

action at Bellair. 

339 What preparations were made'for the defence of Baltimore ? 

340 Describe the battle of North Point. 

842 Describe the bombardment of Fort McHenry. 

343 Describe the exploit at the six gun battery. Who was the author 

of " the Star Spangled Banner ?" Under what circumstances 

was its composition suggested ? 
3i4 What is said of the defence of Baltimore ? 

CHAPTERXVIII. 

345 When was peace made with Great Britain ? What is said of the 

growth of Baltimore ? 

346 What causes brought about the agitation of a reform of the consti- 

stitution ? Give the history of this subject. 

349 What is said of the senatorial electors. What reforms were made 

with regard to the Governor ? 

350 What in the Senate ? What in the House of Delegates ? 

351 What as to clerks and registers ? What is said of slavery and the 

blacks ? 
853 What is said of Liberia and the Maryland colony ? 

354 What is said of the condition of the African race in Maryland ' 

355 What is said of the public schools of the State ? 
357 Describe the organization of schools of Baltimore. 

359 What were the first colleges established in Maryland ? Give their 

history. What is said of Georgetown College ? 

360 Give the history of St. Mary's College, Baltimore. The College 

at Abingdon. Mount St. Mary's College. The College of St. 
James. St. John's Literary Institution. 

361 Give the history of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company. 
363 What was the origin of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Koad Com- 
pany ? Give its history. 

864 What other public improvements were undertaken ? 

365 What was the consequence of this improvement ? What is said 

of the public debt ? 
866 What is said of the renewed efforts of the Canal and Rail Road 

Companies ? What of agriculture ? 

368 What brought about the Mexican war ? 

369 Describe the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. What 

Marylanders here distinguished themselves ? 

370 What is said of the Baltimore Battalion ? 

371 Describe the storming of Monterey, and the part of the Baltimore 

Battalion in that event. 

373 What other troops were raised in Maryland ? 

374 What is said of the 2d Baltimore Battahon ? Describe the affair at 

the National Bridge. 

375 What is said of the battle of Buena Vista ? What of Gen. Scott's 

victories ? Name the battles fought from Vera Cruz to Mexico ? 

377 When and where was the treaty of peace signed ? What Mary- 

landers were distinguished in the battle of Chapultepec ? 

378 What is said in conclusion ? 



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